Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in prison for Capitol riot crimes

Stewart Rhodes, the former Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer who founded the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy related to the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.

Stewart Rhodes, the former Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer who founded the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy related to the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.

It is by far the longest sentence for any of the 1,000-plus people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack by supporters of Republican then-president Donald Trump in a failed bid to block Congress from certifying Democratic rival Joe Biden's November 2020 election victory. The longest previous sentence was 14 years in prison given to a Pennsylvania man who attacked police during the rampage.

Rhodes was convicted in November by a federal court jury in Washington.

In addition to seditious conspiracy — a felony charge involving attempting "to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States" — Rhodes was convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and tampering with documents. Rhodes was acquitted of two other charges.