Former Proud Boys leader and South Florida native Enrique Tarrio is now serving a historic sentence for his role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
“Like anyone else who has been sentenced to 22 years I can imagine he's very astonished, but he understands there is an appeal in this case,” said Tarrio’s defense attorney Nayib Hassan in his first sit down interview since Tarrio’s sentencing.
Tarrio received the highest sentencing for the January 6th riot so far.
Enrique Tarrio was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, the same charge that Oath Keepers leader Steward Rhodes was found guilty of, but Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Rhodes voiced no remorse in court while Tarrio apologized.
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“We knew going into it that there was a possibility that he could get a higher sentence, yet our position is that it shouldn’t,” said Hassan.
Hassan feels the judge gave Tarrio the higher sentence because there were more Proud Boys at the Capitol on January 6th than any other group.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in a statement, “[The Proud Boys] were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government.”
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The estimation from the government is that there were more than a thousand Proud Boys compared to more than a hundred Oath Keepers.
His lawyer says because Tarrio was the leader, he took the biggest hit when it came to sentencing.
Tarrio will be in his 60s by the end of his sentence, but he didn’t receive the max which was more than 30 years in prison.
Within the next few months Tarrio is expected to be transferred to a prison in Florida.
