Four people associated with the Oath Keepers were convicted Monday of conspiracy and obstruction following the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in the latest trial involving members of the far-right anti-government extremist group.

A Washington jury found Sandra Parker of Morrow, Ohio; Laura Steele of Thomasville, NC; William Isaacs of Kissimmee, Florida; and Connie Meggs of Dunnellon, Florida, guilty of conspiracy to obstruct official proceedings and other felonies.

In a rare loss to prosecutors, Parker’s husband, Bennie Parker, was accredited with obstruction and one conspiracy charge, and a sixth defendant, Michael Greene of Indianapolis, was accredited with two conspiracy charges.

Jurors said they could not rule on another conspiracy charge for Bennie Parker and the obstruction charge for Greene, so the judge ordered them to continue deliberating. All six defendants were convicted of a felony misdemeanor.

Conspiracy to obstruct Congress and obstruction of Congress is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

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They were the third group of Oath Keepers members and associates to be tried on serious charges in the riot that temporarily halted the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory and injured dozens of police officers. Unlike other Oath Keepers, they were not charged with seditious conspiracy, the most serious offense prosecutors have committed to date in the assault.

The verdict comes as prosecutors dropped their case Monday in another high-profile riot trial at the Capitol against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a plot to forcibly overturn Biden’s election victory.

In November, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, who ran the Oath Keepers’ Florida chapter, were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Three other Oath Keepers were acquitted of the charges in that case, but were found guilty of other serious crimes. After a second trial, four more Oath Keepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy in January. Seditious conspiracy calls for up to 20 years in prison. None of the Oath Keepers have been convicted yet.

Connie Meggs is the wife of Kelly Meggs.

Authorities claimed that Oath Keepers prepared for weeks leading up to Jan. 6, attending training sessions and recruiting others to come to Washington. Authorities have said the extremist group stashed weapons in a Virginia hotel in case they were needed, donned tactical vests and helmets, and moved in an organized manner as they advanced toward the Capitol.

The Oath Keepers have denied that there was any plot to storm the Capitol or stop the certification. Defense attorneys have argued that their clients only came to Washington to see then-President Trump speak or to provide security for speakers at pre-riot events, and that those entering the Capitol did so spontaneously.

Greene took the stand for the defense at the Rhodes trial in November and told jurors he had never heard anyone talk about plans to storm the Capitol. Rhodes told jurors during that case that he tapped Greene to be chief of operations for Jan. 6 after meeting Greene in 2017, when they helped with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

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Greene said he was not a paying member of the Oath Keepers, but essentially worked as a contractor and provided security services, and was asked to come to Washington to help with security operations for events around the Capitol before the riot.

Authorities said Sandra Parker, Connie Meggs, Isaacs and Steele were part of the group of Oath Keepers who

go inside

the Capitol after ascending the steps of the building in military-style stacking formation.

Bennie Parker, who did not go in, told a reporter, “We had just had a presidential election and it was stolen from us … all these people here are patriots. And if it has to be, it will end in civil war and its many people willing to take up arms,” ​​the indictment said.

Bennie Parker’s lawyer Stephen Brennwald said after the verdict that his client would rather have been convicted of the serious charges than his wife, saying: “It tears him apart.

Lawyers for the other defendants declined to comment or did not immediately respond to emails Monday.

More than half of the approximately 1,000 people charged with riot-related federal crimes at the Capitol have pleaded guilty, including more than 130 who have pleaded guilty to felony charges. Of the 400 convicted, more than half have received prison terms ranging from seven days to 10 years, according to an Associated Press report.

Richer reports from Boston.