Washington (AFP) - Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys militia, is to be sentenced on Tuesday for his role in the attack on the US Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump.
Prosecutors are seeking a 33-year sentence for the 39-year-old Tarrio, which would be the stiffest handed out so far for the January 6, 2021 storming of the joint session of Congress.
Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6 but was accused of directing the military-style assault on the Capitol by members of the Proud Boys.
Tarrio and several other members of the group were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May for their roles in the attempt to stop congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.
US District Court Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced four Proud Boys last week to prison terms ranging from 10 to 18 years, saying the attack on the Capitol "broke our tradition of the peaceful transfer of power, which is one of the most precious things that we had as Americans."
The 18-year sentence for Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, 32, matched the longest meted out so far -- that given in May to Stewart Rhodes, the founder of another far-right militia central to the Capitol siege, the Oath Keepers.
Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, had been scheduled to be sentenced last week but the judge was ill.
In a sentencing memorandum, the government said the fact that Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6 "does not significantly mitigate his culpability" and he acted as a "general rather than a soldier."
"The only reason Tarrio did not march alongside the others is because he was arrested upon his arrival in Washington DC and placed under a court order to leave the District," prosecutors said.
Describing Tarrio as a "savvy propagandist," they said he "did far more harm than he could have as an individual rioter."
"His sentence should reflect that."
Trump trial in March
The assault on Congress left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured and followed a fiery speech by Trump to tens of thousands of his supporters near the White House in which he repeated his false claims that he won the election.
Trump is to go on trial in Washington in March on charges of conspiring to overturn the November 2020 election results,
He faces similar charges in a separate case in the southern state of Georgia.
The 77-year-old Trump was impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives after the Capitol riot -- he was charged with inciting an insurrection -- but was acquitted by the Senate.
More than 1,100 people have been charged by the Justice Department in the Capitol attack.
Some 630 of them have pleaded guilty to various charges, and 110 have been found guilty at trial.
