Prosecutors are asking Reffitt, the first Capitol riot defendant to go to trial, to receive a 15-year prison sentence.
WASHINGTON — This week we will see a key development in the court cases tied to the January 6th attack.
Guy Reffitt, one of the rioters whose case went to trial, is set to be sentenced on Monday, and prosecutors are asking he get significantly more prison time than any other defendant, who has already been sentenced.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) are seeking a terrorism enhancement.
The Justice Department says Reffitt of Wylie, Texas, should receive 15 years in prison for his role in the January 6th attack. They want to add a terrorism enhancement. It would be nearly three times longer than the longest sentence handed down so far.
Reffitt is a member of the far-right militia group called the Texas Three Percenters, who became the first Capitol riot defendant to go to trial.
He was convicted of five felony counts in the trial this past March, in which his teenage son testified against him. Over four days of testimony, prosecutors showed how Reffitt – wearing body armor and carrying a handgun concealed under a large coat – made himself the leader of a group of rioters who eventually overwhelmed police and made the first breach of the Capitol. Reffitt himself was overcome by the multiple rounds of less-than-lethal munitions used against him and did not enter the building.
"I do think what he was doing, he thought was right," said his son, Jackson Reffitt. "But in the end, what he was doing was not right, for him or his family or the country even."
Although prosecutors have argued other defendants committed crimes of terrorism in memos requesting them to be held in pretrial detention – most notably Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, whose prosecutors were the first rioter to smash a window at the Capitol. Reffitt is the first defendant where the DOJ has sought a terrorism enhancement at sentencing.
The longest sentence handed down in a Jan. 6 case to date was given to Robert Palmer, who was sentenced to 63 months in prison for throwing a fire extinguisher and wooden plank at police.
Prosecutors say the evidence showed Reffitt's extensive planning for weeks ahead of the attack and that he outfitted himself with weapons, body armor, and zip ties. His children testified he made threats against them if they decided to expose him.
Reffitt's wife wrote a letter saying they need him at home so that the family can “fully heal.”
Reffitt’s lawyer is arguing for a significantly shorter sentence - just 24 months saying he’s already served 19 months in jail.
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