One of the leaders of the Proud Boys has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for his role in the Capitol assault

EFE

Joseph Biggs, one of the leaders of the far-right American group Proud Boys, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday for his involvement in the conspiracy to keep former President Donald Trump in power.

Biggs and three other Proud Boys members, including their leader Enrique Tarrio, were found guilty in May of conspiring to commit sedition during the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault while the electoral results certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory were being confirmed.

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Biggs' sentence is close to the 18-year term handed down in May to Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers group, for his involvement in the same conspiracy to keep Trump in the White House.

This conviction is one of the strongest related to the Capitol attack, during which thousands of Trump supporters gathered, and hundreds stormed the building, resulting in five deaths and numerous injured officers.

Prosecutors had requested a 33-year sentence for Biggs. The ruling comes after a week of deliberations in a federal court in Washington.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors presented messages and videos posted by Biggs and other Proud Boys members in which they called for violence and revolution against the presidential transition.

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District Judge Timothy Kelly, when delivering the sentence, emphasized the importance of the peaceful transfer of power tradition in the United States and noted that the events of January 6 broke with that tradition.

Former President Trump also faces charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Washington, D.C., and Georgia, as well as other criminal cases in New York and Florida related to irregular payments and the handling of classified documents.