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“It has become evident to me in riot cases that many defendants who plead guilty do not really accept responsibility,” District Judge Thomas Hogan said.
“They seem to me to be trying to sort this out as quickly and cheaply as possible – declaring all they have to say in the guilty plea, getting probation and hoping that would be the end of it,” he said. -he declares. added.
Hogan said that the defendants who said they did not realize the seriousness of the riot “were trying to escape responsibility” and that “the other participants in this riot who are guilty of an offense … can expect to receive a prison sentence ”.
His comments came during the sentencing of Robert Reeder of Maryland, who pleaded guilty in June to illegally protesting inside the Capitol. Hogan sentenced Reeder to three months in prison and ordered Reeder to pay $ 500 for damage to the Capitol complex.
While defendants who have pleaded guilty are not required to apologize, it could persuade a judge to show leniency in sentencing. Prosecutors have previously cited provocative comments from some rioters to say they deserve time behind bars, and the sentence could set a benchmark for judges as they deal with other low-level cases with defendants who have denied the seriousness of the insurgency.
Although the plea deal signed with Reeder gave the Justice Department the option of indicting Reeder for the assault, they refused to do so. Instead, prosecutors increased their recommended sentence to six months in jail, placing what they called a “rewrite of reality” in Reeder’s claims to the FBI that he was nonviolent during the riot, not a Trump supporter and believed he had permission to enter Capitol Hill. .
In a moving testimony, Reeder, sometimes crying, described the loss of his family, work and religious community after January 6.
“I’m embarrassed. I’m ashamed,” Reeder said. “The harm I have caused other people, not just myself… has left a permanent stain on me, the society, the country, and I never want to be remembered for doing part of this crowd. I accept full responsibility for being there. I want you to know that it was not just a mistake, but the biggest mistake of my life. I wish I had a chance to make it back and redeem me. “
Reeder said his son “no longer wants to go to school because he has been humiliated, embarrassed, bullied” and his family is “ashamed because they have the same name”.
“I’m a good man. I am,” Reeder said.
So far, more than 95 defendants of the Capitol riots have pleaded guilty to federal charges. Thirteen were sentenced. Reeder is the seventh riot defendant on Capitol Hill to be sentenced to jail.
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