Prosecutors seek 33-year sentence for Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs to 33 years in prison, arguing his sentence should be enhanced because his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, amounted to “terrorism.”

Prosecutors are also seeking 33 years for Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, the former chairman of the Proud Boys. If approved by a judge, the sentences would be the longest yet against Capitol Hill rioters. Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May.

Biggs, who lived in unincorporated Volusia County near Ormond Beach, was convicted along with other Proud Boys members and leaders, at a federal trial in Washington, D.C. this year in relation to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Prosecutors also asked for long sentences for the others tried with Biggs: 30 years for Zachary Rehl, 27 years for Ethan Nordean, and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola.

Biggs was convicted of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding conspiracy to use force, intimidation, or threats to prevent officers of the United States from discharging their duties, interference with law enforcement during a civil disorder, and destruction of government property.

In a court document filed Thursday, government prosecutors said a lengthy sentence is needed to protect the country.

“The court must impose a long enough sentence to prevent Biggs from leading another violent conspiracy against the government while he is still motivated and equipped to do so,” according to the sentencing memorandum.

Biggs has been jailed since April 20, 2021.

Federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly has set a hearing for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 29 in Washington, D.C. to resolve matters in the case before he decides on the sentencing, which will take place at a later date.

Biggs' defense suggests time-served

Biggs' defense attorney, Norman A. Pattis, filed a document asking for a substantially lower sentence than the one sought by prosecutors.

“The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment,” he wrote.

Pattis, who also represents Rehl, said both men have been in prison for more than two years, spending up to 22 hours a day in their cells. Pattis suggested a sentence of time served.

"If time served is too much for which to ask, the defendants request a sentence that will permit them to return home to their loved ones in the very near future. They have served enough time," Pattis wrote.

Pattis also said that Jan. 6, 2021, was “fostered, in no small measure” by then-President Donald Trump insisting the election had been stolen from him. Pattis said that while not using Trump to justify his actions, Biggs should receive some mitigation from believing and responding to the “commander in chief.”

Pattis noted that Trump had been indicted after “scores” of ordinary citizens had been prosecuted and convicted.

Pattis wrote that Biggs served in the Army and earned numerous military honors, including a Purple Heart from a traumatic brain injury in Iraq. Biggs was separated from his wife but “passionately engaged in the life of their daughter who is in the first grade.” Pattis wrote that upon his release, Biggs hopes to return to his home in Volusia County.

Prosecutors: Terrorism enhancement

Prosecutors noted Biggs' prison sentence should be increased due to a terrorism enhancement, reflecting the seriousness of his assault on the government and his leadership role. They also noted he was the only defendant in the case to enter the U.S. Capitol twice on Jan. 6, 2021. Biggs also lied to the FBI when he was interviewed.

Prosecutors wrote that Biggs was “a vocal leader and influential proponent of the group’s shift toward political violence” and that “Biggs recognized his own actions in the days following January 6 for what they were – an act of terrorism.”

Biggs recorded a podcast in the days following the riot in which he said January 6 was a “warning shot to the government – look, we started this country this way and we’ll (expletive) save  it this way.”

The terrorism enhancement reflects the “severity of Biggs’s actions and the danger posed by Biggs and his co-conspirators on Jan. 6.

Biggs promoted the use of force perhaps more than any other member of the group.

In the days after the election, Biggs said the country could face a civil war because the left was"radicalizing people by stealing th(e) election.” Biggs told his followers that it was time for war if the election was stolen, prosecutors wrote.

Biggs said about lawmakers that break their own laws that they “should be dragged out of office and hung,” the prosecutors wrote,

Biggs was in the first wave that crossed the First Street barrier. He tore down a fence and charged up a scaffolding and he was among the first rioters inside the Capitol building at one breach, according to prosecutors.

Biggs exited the Capitol but then reentered and went straight to the Senate Chamber which he found empty and believed his mission had been accomplished. But when Congress reconvened later that night, Biggs realized his plans had failed and posted on social media “R.I.P. America 1776 – 2021.”

Biggs recorded a pod-style interview which he saved as “CivilWar.mp4” in which he called Jan. 6 a “warning shot’’ showing the government “how weak they truly are.”

Biggs said that the founding fathers were “considered terrorists,” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors wrote that while Biggs served his country in the military it also meant that “Biggs should have known better.” The government said seditious conspiracy is a betrayal of the country aggravated when it is done by someone who once swore to defend the country.

Biggs knew the value of the country’s democratic institutions having served in countries where political violence occurred regularly. Biggs' Army service also gave him “substantial cachet with the Proud Boys.”

More than any other defendant Biggs used the language of “war”

In his CivilWar.mp4 interview, Biggs said that standing up for what you believe is right sometimes means killing people.

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Prosecutors seek 33 years prison for Volusia County Proud Boys leader