J6 Defendant Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison

A federal judge on Monday sentenced the first J6 political prisoner convicted at trial to 87 months (7.25 years) in prison.

This is the longest sentence thus far of any J6 defendant.

NEW: Judge sentences Guy Reffitt to 87 months (7.25 years) in prison after a jury found him guilty of 5 counts, including bringing a gun to the Jan. 6 riot.

This is the longest sentence to date in the Jan. 6 investigation.

— Rob Legare (@RobLegare) August 1, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: Judge sentences Guy Reffitt to 87 months (7.25 years) in prison after a jury found him guilty of 5 counts, including bringing a gun to the January 6th, 2021 Capitol protest.

This is the longest sentence to date of any J6 Defendant.

— DailyNoah.com (@DailyNoahNews) August 1, 2022

“Guy Wesley Reffitt, 49, of Wylie, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury in March of five felony counts, including obstruction of justice as well as entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm,” ABC News wrote.

As we reported earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice sought a 15-year prison sentence and – for the first time – a terrorism enhancement.

Federal Prosecutors Seek 15-Year Prison Sentence for First J6 Prisoner to Stand Trial, Sentencing Today

A terrorism enhancement would effectively define under law that a rioter’s actions amounted to domestic terrorism.

"We do believe that what he was doing that day was domestic terrorism and we do believe that he's a domestic terrorist," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said Monday.

ABC News reported:

But the judge overseeing Reffitt's case, Dabney Friedrich, turned down the request, saying that there have been multiple other defendants from the Jan. 6 attack where DOJ chose not to pursue the terrorism enhancement, despite their conduct appearing to be much more serious and threatening than what Reffitt was convicted of at trial.

Reffitt's attorney, Clinton Broden, argued the DOJ was unfairly seeking to make an example of Reffitt simply because he took his case to trial.

"This is the only case where the government has asked for the terrorism enhancement, and this is the only case where the defendant has gone to trial," Broden said. "I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure that out."

Reffitt is among the more than 850 people who have been charged in connection with the deadly breach of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. Over 200 defendants have already pleaded guilty to a variety of misdemeanors and felony charges, with some being sentenced to years in federal prison.

Reffitt's attorney, Clinton Broden, asked that his client be sentenced to no more than two years. He said he was shocked by the prosecution's recommendation, since his client wasn't accused of entering the Capitol or assaulting any police officers that day.