Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in prison on Jan. 6 charges

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right group known as the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, receiving the longest sentence in a Jan. 6 case to date.

Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia imposed the sentence Thursday after a hearing in which Rhodes declared himself a “political prisoner” and likened himself to former President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors had asked Mehta to impose a sentence of 25 years in prison, saying Rhodes, who is 58, qualified for a more lengthy sentence under federal anti-terrorism laws given the “threat of harm and the historic significance” of his crimes. Mehta agreed to impose the enhancements, noting that Rhodes did not demonstrate “acceptance of responsibility” for his role in the attack. It was the first time the terrorism enhancement has been applied to a Jan. 6 defendant.

Hours after Rhodes was sentenced, his co-defendant Kelly Meggs, the leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers, was given a sentence of 12 years behind bars. Meggs was convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Rhodes last November. Prosecutors alleged he spearheaded the effort to enter the Capitol.

Read more: CBS News