by Misty Severi
A former Virginia police officer on Wednesday became the first January 6 defendant to receive a reduced sentence after the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of an obstruction charge used against Jan. 6 rioters.
The Supreme Court in June made it more difficult to charge the defendants with obstruction but charges can still be brought if prosecutors can prove that rioters were intentionally trying to stop the arrival of certificates used to certify electoral votes during the riot.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper re-sentenced Thomas Robertson in his January 6 case to six years in prison, instead of just over seven years, per NBC News. Robertson was convicted on six charges in 2022, but prosecutors moved to dismiss the obstruction charge on Wednesday.
Robertson was also convicted on a separate obstruction charge, which remains, because he destroyed evidence after the riot by placing his phone, and the phone of a colleague who was also at the riot, into an ammo can and dumping them in a lake.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said the facts of the case remain the same as they were in 2022, which is that Robertson illegally stormed the Capitol during the first wave of rioters and used specialized training as a former law enforcement officer to stop Capitol Police from trying to push back the mob, according to The Hill.
“The same is true today,” she told the judge. “Nothing the courts did in Fischer or Brock changes that.”
The resentencing could now lead to other sentences getting reduced in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, and could hurt federal prosecutors’ attempts to get tough sentences on other rioters.
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Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News.
Photo “January 6 Protest” by Tyler Merbler. CC BY 2.0.
