Current:Home > ContactProud Boys member who went on the run after conviction in the Jan. 6 riot gets 10 years in prison -Zenith Investment School
Proud Boys member who went on the run after conviction in the Jan. 6 riot gets 10 years in prison
View
Date:2025-04-16 21:20:16
WASHINGTON (AP) — A member of the Proud Boys extremist group who went on the run after he was convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol and then allegedly faked a drug overdose after he was caught was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Christopher Worrell, who was convicted of assaulting police with pepper spray, was on house arrest in Naples, Florida, when he disappeared in August, ahead of his original sentencing date.
He was found six weeks later after he tried to “covertly return” to his home, prosecutors said. He seemed to be unconscious and was hospitalized for five days to treat an apparent opioid drug overdose, but prosecutors say he faked his condition to further stall his sentencing.
Worrell suffers from a rare form of lymphoma and said he was afraid the cancer treatment he’d get during a long prison sentence could allow the disease to kill him. He also disputed that he faked his overdose.
“I acted out of severe mental anguish and very genuine fear for my life,” he said. “I am truly sorry and I hope you can fined it in your heart to forgive me.”
Prosecutors had asked for a 14-year sentence on assault, obstruction of Congress and other offenses. They argued he should get a longer sentence after running away from house arrest and faking the overdose cost thousands of dollars in overtime for sheriff’s deputies assigned to watch him. FBI agents also found night-vision goggles, $4,000 in cash, and survivalist gear in his home, authorities said.
Worrell had previously been held in jail in Washington, but was released in November 2021, after a judge substantiated his civil-rights complaints about his treatment in the jail. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found Worrell’s medical care for a broken hand had been delayed, and held D.C. jail officials in contempt of court.
Lamberth said Thursday that Worrell’s complaints and his response had led to reforms in the system and he wanted to ensure that he would get adequate cancer treatment in prison, but his crimes still warranted a hefty sentence.
“This is a hard case for me,” Lamberth said.
Worrell, 52, was convicted after a bench trial of assaulting officers with pepper spray gel as the mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Authorities say he was dressed in tactical vest and bragged that he “deployed a whole can” and shouted insults at officers, calling them “commies” and “scum.”
Prosecutors say Worrell also lied on the witness stand at trial, claiming that he was actually spraying other rioters. The judge called that claim “preposterous,” prosecutors said in court papers.
Worrell’s defense attorney, on the other hand, said his client brought the spray gel and tactical vest to Washington for defensive purposes because of previous violence between Proud Boys and counter-protesters. The chaotic scene at the Capitol “could have contributed to misperceptions creating inaccuracies” in Worrell’s testimony at trial, attorney William Shipley said.
More than three dozen people charged in the Capitol attack have been identified by federal authorities as leaders, members or associates of the Proud Boys, whose members describe it as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.”
Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio was sentenced in September 2023 to 22 years in prison — the longest term handed down in the Jan. 6 attack. Tarrio and three Proud Boys associates were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes for what prosecutors said was a plot to stop the transfer of power from Trump, a Republican, to Democrat Joe Biden.
veryGood! (43)
Related
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Mississippi capital to revamp how it notifies next of kin about deaths with Justice Department help
- Will Caitlin Clark make Olympic team? Her focus is on Final Four while Team USA gathers
- New York can take legal action against county’s ban on female transgender athletes, judge says
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Is Caitlin Clark or Paige Bueckers college basketball's best player? What the stats say
- Glasses found during search for missing teen Sebastian Rogers, police unsure of connection
- Powerball jackpot climbs to estimated $1.23 billion after no ticket wins grand prize of roughly $1.09 billion
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Have A Special Occasion Coming Up? These Affordable Evenings Bags From Amazon Are The Best Accessory
Ranking
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Messi, Inter Miami confront Monterrey after 2-1 loss and yellow card barrage, report says
- Carla Gugino reflects on being cast as a mother in 'Spy Kids' in her 20s: 'Totally impossible'
- Gay rights activists call for more international pressure on Uganda over anti-gay law
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Yankees return home after scorching 6-1 start: 'We're dangerous'
- Reese Witherspoon Making Legally Blonde Spinoff TV Show With Gossip Girl Creators
- Mississippi capital to revamp how it notifies next of kin about deaths with Justice Department help
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Reveal Why They Put 2-Year-Old Son Cruz in Speech Therapy
Treasurer for dozens of Ohio political campaigns accused of stealing nearly $1M from clients
Lily Allen says Beyoncé covering Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' is 'very weird': 'You do you'
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Lily Allen says Beyoncé covering Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' is 'very weird': 'You do you'
Soccer Star and Olympian Luke Fleurs Dead at 24 in Hijacking, Police Say
Drake Bell maintains innocence in child endangerment case, says he pleaded guilty due to finances