A retired Navy intelligence officer who was cleared of essentially the most severe prices in his U.S. Capitol assault trial alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes averted further time behind bars when he was sentenced Friday.
Thomas Caldwell was acquitted by a jury in Washington’s federal court docket of seditious conspiracy and two different conspiracy offenses in one of the vital severe circumstances introduced by the Justice Division within the Jan. 6, 2021, assault. And considered one of two counts he was discovered responsible on at trial was dismissed in gentle of a U.S. Supreme Court docket ruling final 12 months.
Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Caldwell helped coordinate “fast response drive” groups prosecutors mentioned the Oath Keepers stationed exterior the capital metropolis to get weapons into the palms of extremists in the event that they have been wanted. The weapons have been by no means deployed, and attorneys for the Oath Keepers mentioned they have been solely there for defensive functions in case of assaults from left-wing activists.
However Caldwell, who didn’t enter the Capitol, took the witness stand and performed down messages he despatched main as much as Jan. 6, together with one floating the thought about getting a ship to ferry “heavy weapons” throughout the Potomac River. Caldwell mentioned he was by no means severe about it, calling it “inventive writing.”
His lawyer famous at trial that Caldwell was a disabled veteran who typically makes use of a cane to stroll, telling jurors he “couldn’t storm his means out of a paper bag.” Lawyer David Fischer argued that there was no plot to assault the Capitol, saying his consumer wasn’t even planning to go to the constructing till Trump’s speech on the Ellipse urging his supporters to “struggle like hell.”
Prosecutors had sought 4 years in jail for Caldwell on his remaining obstruction of justice offense conviction for deleting messages after the riot. Prosecutors described him in court docket papers as “an avid and prepared participant in an unprecedented crime.”
Caldwell’s lawyer informed U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta in court docket paperwork that his consumer’s acquittal on the conspiracy prices and “navy service that resulted in a lifetime of debilitating accidents” name for a sentence of time served. He spent greater than 50 days behind bars after his 2021 arrest.
“Mr. Caldwell was cleared of the 4 most severe counts and sentenced to no further jail time by a extremely revered federal decide,” Fischer mentioned in an e mail. “Clearly, he ought to be thought-about for a pardon by President Trump.”
Trump has advised he’ll pardon at the very least a big portion of the than 1,500 individuals who have been charged with federal crimes within the largest investigation in Justice Division historical past.
Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, is amongst 14 defendants who have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors mentioned have been violent plots to maintain Trump in energy. Rhodes is serving an 18-year jail sentence.
