A member of the

to the far right

Extremist group Oath Keepers that was part of a security detail for former President Trump’s longtime adviser

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Roger Stone was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Thursday before storming the US Capitol.

Roberto Minuta, who was videotaped guarding Stone hours before the riot on January 6, 2021, was one of six Oath Keeper members convicted by jurors of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was a violent plot to get the transfer from power from Trump to President Biden after the 2020 election.

Minuta is the third Oath Keeper to receive his sentence for seditious conspiracy, the Justice Department’s most serious charge in the attack on the Capitol.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced last week to 18 years behind bars, the longest sentence to date in hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Kelly Meggs, who ran the group’s Florida chapter, was sentenced to 12 years.

Minuta told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that he was ashamed of his actions, disavowed the Oath Keepers, and disgusted by the lack of remorse Rhodes showed at his own sentencing.

My emotions got the better of me, and I deeply apologize, Your Honor, he told Mehta. I was deceived and naive.”

Some January 6 rioters apologize in court and later change their tune

Before handing down the sentence of four years and six months, the judge told Minuta that the law does not allow anyone to collect weapons to fight against your government.

This is not about politics. This is not about your beliefs. It’s about your behavior, Mehta said.

Minuta, who owned a tattoo parlor in New York, was in contact with Rhodes on Jan. 6, whom Minuta described in a message as one of his “most trusted men,” according to federal prosecutors. Minuta purchased 5,500 cartridges on January 6. approached, the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said he has shown no real remorse, noting that after his arrest, Minuta used social media to dismiss the investigation as politically motivated and referred to the January 6 defendants as POLITICAL PRISONERS. the government is armed to destroy dissidents.

That’s his worldview, said Justice Department prosecutor Troy Edwards. Mr. Minuta is a danger to himself and to his republic because of his worldview.

Oath Keepers’ Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in January 6 attack

Lawyers for the Oath Keepers say there was never a plot to storm the Capitol or

Unpleasant

stop the transfer of power.

Minuta’s attorney, William Shipley, said his client came to Washington to serve in personal security for the Oath Keepers for Stone and had no intention of engaging in any other activity.

Shipley said Minuta’s fear of government tyranny was not fueled by the baseless claims that Trump’s 2020 election was stolen, but stemmed from his tattoo parlor being shut down by lockdown measures during the

coronavirus (COVID-19

pandemic. Shipley said Minuta’s actions on January 6 were regrettable and idiotic.

But worthy of a multi

–

years in prison? I don’t think so, he added.

Minuta was seen among several people in Oath Keepers gear

flanking beside

Stone on January 5 and 6.

Stone, an informal Trump advisory

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r, on January 6, denied having any knowledge of or involvement in anything illegal.

The judge agreed with the Justice Department that the actions of Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers could be punished if

terrorism

increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines. But the judge has consistently handed down shorter sentences than prosecutors had demanded for Oath Keeper members. The Justice Department had demanded 17 years for Minuta and 25 for Rhodes.

Edward Vallejo, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, is expected to be sentenced later Thursday. Prosecutors said he was a leader of a Quick Reaction Force who stashed weapons in a Virginia hotel and was willing to take them to Washington if called. The weapons were never deployed.

A day after the riot, Vallejo traveled to Washington to monitor and examine the defense line of police and National Guard soldiers protecting the Capitol, prosecutors said. He later tried to meet Rhodes in Texas.

A veteran of the United States Army, Vallejo has lived in the Phoenix area for a long time. Defense attorney Matthew Peed said Vallejo was not part of any Oath Keepers calls or discussions before arriving in the Washington area a day before the riot. In court cases, his attorney cited prosecutors’ argument that the Oath Keepers should be condemned as terrorists on the verge of the offensive.

The January 6 tragedy is that hundreds of lifelong law-abiding people like Edward Vallejo were lied to by the sitting president and told the certification was an orchestrated attack on our democracy, the attorney wrote.

Last Friday, the judge handed down sentences for two other Oath Keepers who were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges. Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars and sentenced Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Florida, to four years in prison.

The Oath Keepers’ convictions come weeks after leaders of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, were also convicted of the January 6 attack.

Former The

pride

Former boys

national president

,

Enrique Tarrio

,

and three other group leaders were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was a separate plot to keep Trump in the White House. They will be sentenced in August.