A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer to 87 months in jail for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, matching the longest prison term handed down for one of the convicted rioters to date and illustrating how former members of law enforcement and the military participated in the violent insurrection.
At a two-hour sentencing hearing for former Virginia police Sgt. Thomas Robertson in U.S. District Court in Washington, Judge Christopher Cooper told Robertson that as a member of law enforcement he took an oath to obey the law. But citing witness testimony and text messages, the judge said that Robertson had told a close friend that he was prepared to fight a “civil war.” Even after his arrest and initial release on bail, the judge said Robertson destroyed evidence and kept a sophisticated rifle and “explosive device” at his home in violation of the court’s order. Federal authorities ultimately re-arrested Robertson and learned that while on bail, he had arranged to buy more than 30 more guns in violation of the judge’s order.
“You were not some bystander who just got swept up in the crowd,” Cooper said Thursday. “It really seems as though you think of partisan politics as war and that you continue to believe these conspiracy theories.”
In April, Robertson became the second accused Jan. 6 rioter to face trial by jury. Jurors found him guilty on all six counts of which he was charged, including obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder.
In March, Guy Reffitt, an alleged recruiter for the far-right Three Percenters group, also received an 87-month prison sentence from a different federal judge after a jury convicted him on charges relating to his alleged participation in the riot, though Reffitt never entered the Capitol.
While federal authorities have charged more than 880 defendants with participation in the riot or related activity, so far only 12 defendants have been found guilty at trials, including 10 who were found guilty of felony charges. Approximately 353 individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, while roughly 280 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
Sources close to the investigation have said that authorities think they have evidence that as many as 2,500 people participated in the riot but it is presently unclear how far the investigation will proceed and certainly unclear how Congress will view the probe if Republicans take over one or both legislative chambers after November’s midterm elections.
As the riot unfolded, Robertson was among hundreds of Trump supporters who broke their way into the Capitol building. He was accompanied by Jacob Fracker, an associate from Virginia with whom he posed for pictures in the Capitol crypt.
In her presentation to the judge at Robertson’s sentencing hearing, Department of Justice prosecutor Liz Aloi highlighted photos taken during the riot that showed Robertson carrying a large wooden stick as he approached officers guarding the Capitol. Prosecutors also noted that he and Fracker were both wearing gas masks.
Fracker, also a former Rocky Mount police officer, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in the case against Robertson. In exchange for that cooperation, Fracker, who will be sentenced on Aug. 16, is expected to receive a sentence of six months probation, according to court filings.
In a four-page handwritten letter to Judge Cooper submitted on July 28, Robertson, who entered the courtroom wearing an orange prison uniform, expressed regret for his his part in the violence. “I take full responsibility for my actions that day and any poor decisions I made,” he wrote. “I want to be clear and up front. I’m not providing excuses for any of my behavior or actions on 1/6/21.”
He went on to describe how disruptions to his personal life were a key factor in the radicalization that led him to participate in riot at the Capitol. In late November 2020, he told the judge, an “older friend of mine suffered a fall in his home,” which ultimately resulted in a diagnosis of stage 4 brain cancer. “From that date I became his primary care taker and contact for health care and Hospice. All in addition to my full time job as a Police Sergeant and my running of my small farm,” Robertson wrote.
At the same time, Robertson wrote, his wife took a job in New York City working for the Office of Medical Examiner, leaving him at home alone to tend to his sick friend, who he described as “a vocal and enthusiastic Trump supporter.” Robertson wrote that “as a result of caring for him, I was exposed to lots of pro Trump, anti Biden media.”
“The cumulative stress of all this caused me to start drinking far more, and far harder, alcohol than I ever had,” Robertson said in his letter to the judge, adding that, “the result was shameful and not at all indicative of the person I am, or have ever been.”
Mark Rollins, Robertson’s lawyer, noted that while evidence showed Robertson brandishing a large stick as he approached police guarding the Capitol, “We never see him using it,” a point that the judge confirmed. While conceding that Robertson had “made some mistakes” in his life, Rollins noted that Robertson had served his country, both as a police officer and as an Army soldier and defense contractor.
“This man had a good character,” serving the public as both a military and police officer, Rollins said, saying that his client’s “life is already a shambles” and asking the judge for sympathy in his sentencing.
By contrast, in a lengthy sentencing memo entered in the court record on Aug. 4, prosecutors raised serious questions about the accuracy and truthfulness of Robertson’s account, asserting he “used his law enforcement training to block Metropolitan Police Officers attempting to hold back the mob.”
Prosecutors argued that “for his efforts to impede law enforcement, overturn the election results and destroy the evidence,” the judge should sentence Robertson to eight years in jail, three years of probation, $2,000 of restitution and a $100 fine for each of the six criminal counts for which he was convicted.
On Thursday, the judge handed down a sentence that trimmed the prosecution’s suggested jail time by nine months, but let the recommendations for probation and fines stand. Robertson will receive credit for the 13 months he has already served behind bars as his trial progressed.
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The rioters got within 2 doors of Vice President Mike Pence's office. See how in this 3D explainer from Yahoo Immersive.
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