A member of the extremist The Oathkeeper ‘s group, who joined other rioters to break into the Capitol on January 6, was sentenced to three years prison for conspiracy charges related to the 2021 attack.
In a 48 page indictment, the prosecutors stated that David Moerschel, of Punta Goorda, Florida had marched in “stack formation” with other Oath keepers up the east steps to the area outside the Capitol Rotunda Doors and joined a crowd that included rioters that attacked officers, yelling “Take their shields!” and “Our House!” and some of them disarming and stealing shields from officers.
Prosecutors said that after breaching the Capitol the group split, with one part of the group unsuccessfully trying to push through a line of police officers guarding an entrance to the Senate Chamber and the other heading toward the House of Representatives to search unsuccessfully for Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the then House Speaker.
Moerschel’s other co-defendants – Roberto Minuta from Prosper, Texas, Edward Vallejo from Phoenix, and Joseph Hackett from Sarasota in Florida – were sentenced to prison this week.
The Oath Keepers’ four members were found guilty of seditious conspiracies in January. However, Judge Amit Mhta handed down one of the lighter sentences this week in the case of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes who was sentenced to 18 years of prison on May 25,.
Conor Martin, an attorney for Moerschel told NBC News he thought his client had received “a just sentence.” He added that the judge explained “why he felt that Mr. Moerschel wasn’t as guilty as some other defendants who received higher sentences.”
The maximum penalty for a rarely used charge of seditious conspiracies is 20 years federal prison.
Minuta, 39, received a sentence of 4 1/2 years imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised parole. Vallejo 64, on the other hand, was given a sentence of three years imprisonment followed by 3 years of supervised parole, with the first year being served in home confinement.
Hackett was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment, followed by three years of supervision.
On Friday, attorneys for Minuta Hackett Vallejo did no respond immediately to comments.
During the seven-week long trial, which concluded in early this year, the prosecutors claimed that Vallejo had a cache of rifles at a Virginia Hotel that they called a “Quick Reaction Force”, while Hackett led a group that broke into Capitol.
According to the indictment the defendants, along with their co-conspirators, plotted in the months prior to Jan. 6 to stop the power transfer by force. This included efforts such as recruiting members and affiliated and amassing weapons and paramilitary equipment to bring to Capitol Grounds.
The jury found that the four defendants were guilty of seditious conspiracies, conspiring with others to obstruct a proceeding official, obstruction of a proceeding official, and conspiring against members of Congress in their discharge of official duties, all on January 23. Hackett also was found guilty of destruction of evidence.
