WASHINGTON D.C. (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The Department of Justice is appealing the 18-year prison sentence handed down to Oath Keepers founder and Granbury native Stewart Rhodes for his role in the Jan 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In the Wednesday filing, federal prosecutors argued that the sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta was well below the recommended federal guidelines. The DOJ had request 25 years.
They’re also challenging other members of the far-right group’s punishments that were shorter than what prosecutors had requested.
Rhodes and five other Oath Keepers members were convicted on numerous charges, including seditious conspiracy. Although the North Texan, who Mehta considered the driver of the plot, was given the longest term within his group.
Two Oath Keepers were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but were convicted of conspiring to obstruct Congress. Federal prosecutors are appealing those sentences as well.
The Oath Keeper’s case was one of the most serious to go to trial in connection with the Capitol riot.
The appeals will go to the D.C. District Court of Appeals.
Copyright 2023. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.