WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to deny a request to delay the sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter, arguing that the defendant may try to stay behind bars.
Brandon Fellows was convicted after last year represents himself during the trial, he told jurors that he liked that January 6 was a “beautiful day” and that “those senators and congressmen were in fear for their lives.”
“We had to withdraw the elections. He was kidnapped,” Fellows testified, adding that he was in a “kangaroo court” without a jury and called the judge a Nazi.
Before that he was among the Fellows A small number of the defendants who attacked the Capitol were held in prison before their trials. He has been in prison since July 2021, and the sentencing is scheduled for February 29.
There are prosecutors seeker 37 months in prison, with a sentence of 30 to 37 months.
If his sentencing were delayed a few more months, as the pensioners have requested, he could end up serving more time behind bars than what he was ultimately convicted of, and potentially even more than the three years sought by prosecutors.
Prosecutors who further delay the sentence he wrote “It is not in the interests of justice, but given his testimony at the Dec. 13, 2023 hearing that he is not in a rush to sentence, it may be the defendant’s goal to remain incarcerated,” Thursday’s filing said.
With own authorship memo — who wrote that rioters “had and had the right to overthrow the government after Pence approved the stolen election” and called Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden “corrupt” and “a modern-day Nazi judge” — Fellows tried to delay. until his punishment The Supreme Court will rule on another case on January 6 this may affect one of the charges against him.
The comrades, who said they were in no rush to sentence, praised the Federal Bureau of Prisons, where they were previously incarcerated, saying they were “awesome and a lot of fun” in their memoirs.
He said he prefers prison to jail because it has weight rooms, classrooms and more nutritious food.
During the trial, Fellows told jurors that he is on the autism spectrum and has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in addition to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Federal prosecutors say Fellows is “in a unique situation where sentencing as scheduled on Feb. 29 could result in his release on that date,” and that it’s clear Fellows wants to delay that hearing any way he can.
“The government has no doubt that it seeks to delay sentencing by any means necessary,” they wrote in the court filing. “Despite the fact that the accused is in prison, he has shown that he is not in a hurry to conclude his case.”
Prior to the attack on the Capitol, the comrades, a logger and chimney sweep from upstate New York, cheered the crowd on Jan. 6, smoked marijuana in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office, and taunted police officers. According to the evidence presented in court, the people guarding the building.
Prosecutors said a 37-month sentence would be preferred given “the gravity of Fellows’ conduct, his continued remorse and his utter contempt for this Court and the rule of law”.
Fellows posted on social media hours after the attack: “It breaks my heart to see these members in fear for their lives.” “Because of what they’ve done and what they’ve done to this country, I hope they live in constant fear.”
After his arrest on January 16, 2021, according to evidence filed in his case, Fellows laughed and “asked an FBI agent for a Sharpie so he could write ‘freedom’ on his forehead.”
As the foreman of the jury announced the verdict in the trial, Fellows interrupted him to shout, “That’s how you radicalize people!” according to court records.
Prosecutors said Fellows “used every chance he got — in media interviews, on social media and in court testimony — to insist that his actions were completely legal and justified, even though he knew they weren’t.”
More than 1,250 defendants have been indicted in connection with the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and federal prosecutors have secured nearly 900 convictions.