Washington, D.C. — More than a year was cut off the prison sentence of a former Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol because he believed then-President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
This came after the Supreme Court ruled on an obstruction charge that has been used against hundreds of people since January 6.
Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court gave Thomas Robertson a new sentence of six years, or 72 months, in federal jail. After the Supreme Court ruled in June in favor of a Jan.
6 offender who fought the obstruction of justice charge brought against him and other riot suspects, the re-sentencing hearing took place.
Many people thought that the Supreme Court’s decision would only have a big effect on a small group of rioters whose only felony sentence was for obstruction. But Robertson was found guilty of other felonies, such as meddling with police during a civil disorder.
Robertson was first given a sentence of more than seven years in federal jail in August 2022. At the time, this was the longest sentence ever given to a Jan.
6 defendant. Over the past two years, many more extremists, including members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, have been found guilty and given much longer federal prison terms.
For example, Enrique Tarrio, Chairman of the Proud Boys, was given 22 years in prison, David Dempsey, a violent Jan. 6 rioter, was given 20 years, and Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, was given 18 years.
Robertson’s co-defendant and former police officer partner, Jacob Fracker, said in court that the two of them went to Washington, D.C., on January 6 to try to change the results of the election and thought that the officers who guarded the Capitol “should have been on our side.”
Robertson was found guilty of felony obstruction for trying to stop the election from being certified. At the meeting on Wednesday, federal prosecutors asked that his conviction on that single charge be thrown out because of the Supreme Court’s decision.
However, the rest of his sentences stand. Robertson was found guilty of a second charge of obstruction because he destroyed evidence after the attack. Fracker said that he saw Robertson put their phones in an ammo can, which was different from the other suspects.
The government used Robertson’s writing as proof that the phones “took a lake swim” and “had a tragic boating accident” before the two turned themselves in to federal authorities.
Feds say Robertson told them after he was arrested, “They asked about my phone, but I’m not a retard.”
A federal prosecutor said in court on Wednesday that Robertson’s destruction of evidence slowed down the federal investigation and kept the government from finding out that a third man, known as “Pat” by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Ann Aloi, was involved in Fracker and Robertson’s plan.
Prosecutors said Fracker only told federal prosecutors that “Pat” was involved after “Pat” decided to testify against Robertson. So far, “Pat” has not been charged with the Jan. 6 attack because he kept Robertson’s guns after he was arrested.
This week, Trump said that he “lost” the 2020 election. Later in the same interview, he said that the election “was a fraud.” Actually, Trump lost the general vote by more than 7 million votes and the Electoral College by a large amount, getting only 232 votes compared to Joe Biden’s 306 votes.
There are some prisoners on Jan. 6 who have told federal judges that they feel bad that they believed the lies Trump told them about the 2020 election, which made them storm the Capitol. However, Trump has not taken back his false claims that the election was stolen from him.
Trump is currently being charged with four federal felonies for trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. These efforts led to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and broke America’s history of peaceful power transfers.
A federal grand jury indicted Trump last month, saying that he lied about the 2020 election by making claims that “were unsupported, objectively unreasonable, and ever-changing.” Trump’s lawyers have said that they will enter a “not guilty” plea for him at the hearing on Thursday.