A member of the Oath Keepers, Jon Ryan Schaffer, entered the first conviction in the historic investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that led to the arrests of more than 400 individuals.
The plea deal comes a hundred days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of former President Trump stormed the legislature building, with the aim of blocking the certification by Joe Biden as the next president through Congress.
In his plea agreement, Schaffer, 53, said he was a founding member of the Oath Keepers, a large, loosely organized collection of individuals and militias, prosecutors said. Schaffer – a guitarist and member of the heavy metal band “Iced Earth”, wore a tactical vest and a bear spray while in DC to protest the outcome of the presidential election. and in the Capitol building, the Justice Department said.
The plea is a new chapter in the government’s massive investigation, as prosecutors follow statements in a growing list of cases and try to better understand the scope of the planning and organization of the groups present during the attack.
Schaffer was arrested and initially charged with six crimes – including assaulting police officers with beer spray – but pleaded guilty on Friday to only two offenses: obstruction of an official process and entering a restricted building or site with a fatal or dangerous weapon. Together, the charges imposed a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
Schaffer pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors, and in return the judge said the government was prepared to file a motion allowing him to be sentenced under a lower recommended range. Based on his lack of criminal history, the judge said, his recommended sentence was between 41 and 51 months – about three to four years.
Schaffer surrendered to FBI agents on Jan. 18 and was detained behind bars in Indianapolis. The accused was photographed in the Capitol on January 6, wearing a blue sweater with hood under a tactical vest with a baseball cap that reads ‘Oath Keepers Lifetime Member’, according to the initial federal criminal charge. He was seen on photos and surveillance videos with a bear spray and verbal altercations with Capitol police officers in the Capitol building.
Acting Deputy Attorney General John P. Carlin said in a statement: “The FBI has made an average of more than four arrests per day seven days a week since January 6. I commend the hundreds of special agents, prosecutors and support staff who has worked tirelessly for the last hundred days to bring to justice those who have committed crimes. ‘