WASHINGTON — Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday afternoon, making it the longest sentence related to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors had wanted Tarrio to be sentenced to 33 years in prison for his role in conspiring to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in Congress.
Federal prosecutors called Tarrio a “naturally charismatic leader, a savvy propagandist, and the celebrity Chairman of the national Proud Boys organization.”
Tarrio’s co-defendant Ethan Nordean and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted in a separate case, received the longest sentences so far with 18 years.
Tarrio was not at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but evidence suggests Tarrio “strategically calculated his arrest as a means to inspire a reaction by his followers.”
“My client is no terrorist. My client is a misguided patriot,” Tarrio’s lawyer Sabino Jauregui said, arguing that his client went to Washington to “protest.”
Jauregui said in court filings that such an enhancement is “a tool to punish Tarrio” because he went to trial rather than plead guilty.
