Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio's Sentencing Postponed After Judge Fell Ill
Aug. 30 2023, Published 1:59 p.m. ET
The sentencing of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was abruptly postponed, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Tarrio and four others were to be sentenced on Wednesday over their involvement in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. However, the proceeding was postponed shortly before it was expected to begin.
Justice Department spokesperson Patricia Hartman initially said the proceeding was postponed "due to an emergency." A courthouse spokesperson later contradicted her statement, saying there was "no emergency" and the hearing was pushed to a future date.
Tarrio's updated sentencing date was set for Tuesday, September 5.
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An attorney for Proud Boys co-defendant Dominic Pezzola provided clarification for the unexpected postponement.
The issue causing the delay came from the court, not any of the defendants or the Justice Department, according to The Hill. Roots said that Pezzola would be sentenced on Friday as he noted that the postponed sentencing could affect remaining Proud Boys Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl.
Two court staffers echoed Roots on the reason for the postponement.
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The staffers claimed the delay came from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, presiding over Tarrio and the other four defendants' cases. The AP reported that Judge Kelly fell ill before the scheduled sentencing, causing the need to push the proceeding.
Tarrio's sentencing was highly anticipated as it could be the longest handed down thus far in the January 6 related convictions. Prosecutors recommended 33 years behind bars for the former leader of the extremist group, though Kelly was not obligated to follow the prosecution's lead.
While Tarrio was arrested in Washington D.C. before rioters broke into the Capitol, a jury found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy in May.
He was accused of orchestrating the movement that brought the unruly Proud Boys to D.C. on January 6. Prosecutors alleged that Tarrio worked with his Proud Boys "lieutenants" to rally members to gather in D.C. in an attempt to stop the vote certification process. Tarrio and his co-defendants were branded "foot soldiers of the right" by the prosecution.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted in May in a separate case, has been given the longest sentence of January 6 offenders. He received 18 years behind bars.
Five people were killed in the Capitol riot and 138 police officers were injured. In the seven months that followed, four police officers who responded to the attack took their own lives.