The ultimate defendant from the primary Oath Keepers trial was sentenced Friday to time served for conduct stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault.
Thomas Caldwell, a U.S. Navy veteran from Virginia, was convicted in 2022 alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Prosecutors stated he performed a central position within the antigovernment militia’s planning for Jan. 6, calling for civil conflict forward of the riot.
However whereas Rhodes was discovered responsible of seditious conspiracy, Caldwell was acquitted of all conspiracy counts. He was convicted of two different felonies, however after the Supreme Court docket narrowed an obstruction cost used in opposition to scores of rioters, a kind of two counts was vacated.
U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta’s sentence of no incarceration or supervised launch displays the 69-year-old Virginian’s solely remaining conviction: tampering with proof for deleting messages he despatched after the riot.
On Jan. 6, Caldwell didn’t enter the Capitol, as a substitute becoming a member of rioters on the Decrease West Terrace’s exterior on the alternative aspect of the constructing from the militia members. In contrast to different Oath Keepers, who donned tactical gear that day, Caldwell wore avenue garments. And his spouse accompanied him on the riot.
All through the trial, Caldwell stated he by no means formally joined the group and was not a member.
However prosecutors stated he was an “an avid and willing participant in an unprecedented crime,” suggesting his conduct on Jan. 6 adopted “weeks of plotting” with the Oath Keepers. They cited his efforts to assist the group set up an armed “quick reaction force” — a cache of weapons saved throughout the Potomac River in case the plan went south.
The federal government requested Mehta to condemn Caldwell to 4 years in jail, searching for an upward departure from federal sentencing pointers. Prosecutors urged that, with out doing so, Caldwell would face the identical offense degree as if he “had not endangered the democratic process and interfered with the peaceful transfer of power.”
Caldwell objected to any upward departure and sought the sentence of time served, citing well being points and his lack of felony historical past.
The sentencing adopted years of delays. Caldwell’s co-defendants, together with Rhodes, started their jail phrases almost two years in the past.
Rhodes was sentenced to 17 years in jail, one of many longest phrases handed down from the riot that has led to tons of of convictions.
