"The United States takes the position that the most analogous offense to seditious conspiracy is ‘Treason,’" warns federal prosecutor Kathyrn Rakoczy.
In a letter obtained by American Greatness, the U.S. Department of Justice is threatening defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in the sprawling Oath Keepers case to accept plea deals or face life in prison.
Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia handling every prosecution related to the events of January 6, 2021, imposed a May 6 deadline for the remaining defendants to accept plea deals. Three men have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy; nine others, including Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes, have rejected government attempts to reach a plea.
“We write to advise you of applicable penalties that could apply upon conviction at trial,” Graves’ chief prosecutor in the case, Kathyrn Rakoczy, wrote to defense attorneys in a letter dated May 2. (Every January 6 defendant who has faced a jury trial in Washington, D.C. has been found guilty on all charges by jurors following brief deliberations.)
After detailing the hefty prison sentences and fines associated with other offenses charged in the case, Rakoczy turned to the potential sentence for seditious conspiracy, a crime so rare that federal sentencing guidelines don’t cover it. “The United States takes the position that the most analogous offense to seditious conspiracy is ‘Treason,’” Rakoczy wrote. If a jury concludes the conspiracy involved conduct “that is tantamount to waging war against the United States,” Rakoczy explained, the government could seek a life sentence upon conviction.
Seditious conspiracy is defined as two or more people who “conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof.” After pressure from the media and Democratic leaders, Graves’ office indicted 11 Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy on January 12, 2022. Another Oath Keeper was indicted this week.
The Oath Keepers are not accused of carrying or using any weapons on January 6; none is charged with directly vandalizing government property. Two “stacks” of Oath Keepers entered the building after the joint session of Congress recessed that afternoon and walked through open doors with police nearby.
Rakoczy further threatened defendants with a terrorism enhancement for any guilty verdict. (Each also faces obstruction of an official proceeding and other felony counts.) The enhancement could result in a maximum sentence of 22 years per offense.
In February, Matthew Perna, charged with nonviolent offenses for his involvement in the Capitol protest, committed suicide after learning Graves planned to seek enhancements that would have added years to his prison sentence.
As Graves’ office strongarms Oath Keepers to accept plea deals, his prosecutors just admitted in court that the government still has not met all its discovery obligations in...
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People that take an oath to defend our constitutional republic are a sever threat to the people busy implementing the new democratic democracy. Treason against the tyrants will be severely punished.
ReplyDeleteIf a jury concludes the conspiracy involved conduct “that is tantamount to waging war against the United States,” Rakoczy explained, the government could seek a life sentence upon conviction.
ReplyDeleteRAKOCZY would be wise to remember this at his sentencing