A member of the Oath Keepers, Jon Ryan Schaffer, has filed the first guilty plea in the historic investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the arrest of more than 400 people.
The plea deal comes 100 days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of former President Trump stormed the legislative building, allegedly with the goal of blocking Joe’s certification by Congress. Biden as the next president.
In his court statement, Schaffer, 53, said he was a lifelong founding member of the Oath Keepers, a large, unorganized collection of individuals and militias, prosecutors said. Schaffer, a guitarist and member of the heavy metal band “Iced Earth,” wore a tactical vest and wore bear spray while in DC to protest the presidential election results and admitted he was one of the first individuals in pass in front of the damaged doors. and in the Capitol building, the Justice Department said.
The petition marks a new chapter in the government’s massive investigation, as prosecutors pursue the verdicts on a growing list of cases and try to better understand the range of planning and organization among the groups present in the attack.
Schaffer was initially arrested and charged with six offenses, including attacking police officers with bear spray, but pleaded guilty Friday to only two felony charges: obstruction of an official proceeding and entry and stay in a building or restricted land. with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Altogether, the charges carried a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
On pleading guilty, Schaffer agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors, and in return the judge said the government is willing to file a motion allowing him to be convicted below a lower recommended rank. According to the judge, depending on his lack of a criminal record, his recommended sentence was between 41 and 51 months, approximately three to four years.
Schaffer turned himself in to FBI agents Jan. 18 and has been detained behind bars in Indianapolis. The defendant was photographed inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt under a tactical vest with a baseball cap that said “Lifetime Member of the Oath Guardians,” according to the criminal complaint initial federal. He was seen in surveillance photos and videos carrying bear spray and participating in verbal altercations with Capitol police officers inside 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 a day, seven days a week since Jan. 6. I congratulate the hundreds of officers. special, prosecutors and support staff who have worked tirelessly for the past hundred days to bring to justice those who committed criminal acts. “