A member of the extremist right-wing gang The Three Percenters militia was sentenced to 7.25 years in prison for his role in the Capitol riot.
Guy Reffitt, of Wylie, Texas, was convicted in March on five felony charges, including bringing a gun on the Capitol grounds as well as obstructing an official proceeding.
According to federal guidelines, the recommended sentence for those crimes is between 7.25 and 9 years in prison. His sentencing is the longest yet given to a January 6 defendant.
Reffitt addressed the court during the sentencing trial, saying he had to make “multiple apologies”.
“I want to make multiple apologies. I was, to put it colorfully, a f***** idiot,” he said. “I don’t want to have anything to do with militia groups or any stupid s*** like that. I’d be lucky if I could get into a church group after this with my mouth.”
He said he wanted to “really apologise to my family, to the court, to the legislators and to their staff and everyone who was affected by my actions... I don’t know what I was thinking... My mouth is my biggest enemy.”
Prosecutors sought a 15-year prison sentence for Reffitt using terrorism as a sentencing enhancement, but the judge denied the request.
F Clinton Broden, the defence attorney representing Reffitt, said the sentencing sought by prosecutors was far too high considering his client committed no acts of violence and does not have a criminal history.
“It makes a mockery of the criminal justice system, the Sixth Amendment right to trial, and the victims assaulted by [others] to argue that Mr Reffitt should be given a sentence greater than (let alone three times greater than) a defendant who assaulted police officers on at least two separate occasions, spent three hours on the Capitol grounds and who has a past history of violence,” Mr Broden wrote.
According to the Washington Post, Jeffrey Nestler and Risa Berkower, the assistant US attorneys pushing for the 15-year sentence, said Reffitt's case is exceptional.
They claimed he played a "central role" in leading the mob of Donald Trump's supporters against police and into the Capitol. Further exacerbating his situation is the fact that Reffitt threatened his son and teenage daughter after the fact, warning them that "if you turn me in, you're a traitor, and traitors get shot."
Prosecutors argued that federal sentencing suggestions were "inadequate" when considering Reffitt's infractions, namely obstruction, weapons offenses, and witness tampering.
“Reffitt sought not just to stop Congress, but also to physically attack, remove, and replace the legislators who were serving in Congress,” prosecutors wrote.
The US attorneys called his conduct "a quintessential example of an intent to both influence and retaliate against government conduct through intimidation or coercion."
Reffitt recorded himself at Mr Trump's rally preceding the riot, during which he said he would drag lawmakers - including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "out kicking and screaming" from the Capitol, with Ms Pelosi's "head hitting every step on the way down."
He reportedly traveled to Washington DC from Texas with an AR-style rifle and a .40 caliber handgun and said on numerous occasions that he planned to use plastic cuffs to restrain lawmakers and drag them out of the Capitol.
