A leader of the Proud Boys who led the far-right organization’s infamous march to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 years in prison – among the longest sentence handed down yet for a convicted rioter.
Joe Biggs was convicted by a Washington, DC jury of several charges including seditious conspiracy for attempting to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.
The government wanted Biggs to serve 33 years in federal prison. That’s 15 years longer than the longest sentence in a Jan. 6 case to date: the 18-year sentence that went to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, also convicted of seditious conspiracy, after prosecutors sought 25 years in federal prison.
The guy should’ve been executed, but the burden on the prosecution might’ve been a high bar to cross for that punishment. At least he’ll be serving in federal prison, which is far harder time than state prison. Federal prison sentences for example won’t allow him to commute his sentence or ask for parole as easily as state sentences. You often hear about people serving only a fraction of their sentence in state prison; this avenue is not possible with federal charges. The president (Trump or a sympathizer) could commute or pardon him, but I think that’s a bridge Trump wouldn’t cross based on his current track record of pardons. Trump’s pardons were largely political gains for him (self serving) and I don’t think a troublemaker would in the end help him very much.