Two leaders of the American far-right group Proud Boys were sentenced this Thursday to 17 and 15 years in prison respectively for their participation in the assault on the Capitolheadquarters of the Congress, on January 6, 2021.
These are two of the most pronounced sentences by US courts in this case, but most legal commentators expected harsher sentences.
Prosecutors had asked for 33 years in prison against Joseph Biggsan Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who led some 200 members of the Proud Boys to Capitol Hill to try to forcibly overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s declaration of victory over the outgoing Republican president, Donald Trump.
He Judge Timothy Kelly it took into account the aggravating circumstances for acts of terrorism requested by the prosecutors, but stressed that it had set the sentence at 16 years less than those requested, alleging that the defendant “had no intention of killing people.”
The defendant had previously expressed his regret, by assuring that he was now away from politics and all militancy. In May, he was found guilty of six charges, including sedition, along with other Proud Boys leaders.