(The Hill) – Capitol riot defendant Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman,” was sentenced on Wednesday to more than three years in federal prison.
The 41-month sentence, issued by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., comes after Chansley pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of an official proceeding related to his conduct in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The sentence, which will be reduced by the time Chansley has served in jail since his arrest, was 10 months less than what federal prosecutors requested.
But Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, denied Chansley’s request for a sentence below the range recommended by federal guidelines, saying Chansley’s conduct was so egregious that “I cannot justify a downward departure.”
Photographs taken inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 of a shirtless Chansley, adorned with a viking hat, red, white and blue face paint, and clutching an American flag and bullhorn, became some of the most searing images to emerge from the pro-Trump insurrection that disrupted the nation’s peaceful transfer of power following President Biden’s electoral win.
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Chansley originally faced six charges and a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. But prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges at the conclusion of Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.
Chansley’s 41-month sentence is among the longest of any of the rioters who have been prosecuted to date. His attorney requested that Chansley be incarcerated in a facility close to Arizona, where Chansley’s family resides.
This is a developing story.