WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes have been released from prison after their lengthy sentences for seditious conspiracy convictions in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol were wiped away by a sweeping executive order Donald Trump, from which more than 1,500 defendants benefit.
Rhodes and Tarrio were two of the most prominent suspects on January 6 and received some of the harshest sentences in what would become the largest investigation in the history of the Justice Department. Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, served an 18-year prison sentence and Tarrio, of Miami, served a 22-year sentence after they were convicted of orchestrating plots to stop the peaceful transition of power after Trump, a Republican, took power had lost. 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden.
Their lawyers confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that they had been released, hours after Trump pardoned, commuted sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases against all more than 1,500 people charged with federal crimes during the riot. Trump’s action paved the way for the release from prison of extremist group leaders convicted in major conspiracy cases, as well as people convicted of violent attacks on law enforcement.