Four Oath Keepers Found Guilty Of Seditious Conspiracy

Four more members of the far-right militia group, The Oath Keepers, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their part in the January 6 insurrection.

The verdict is a significant win for federal prosecutors. The finding is the second time federal prosecutors have garnered a guilty verdict against members of The Oath Keeper. Hundreds of people represented the group during the January 6 attack as they attempted to stop Joe Biden‘s Presidential certification.

The 12-member jury found members David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Roberto Minuta and Edward Vallejo guilty of seditious conspiracy.

The group’s leader, founder Stewart Rhodes, was found guilty of the same crime in November. Three other members on trial with Rhodes were not found guilty in similar charges. They were convicted of obstructing Congress from certifying the election, a charge holding less jail time.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta split the seditious conspiracy trials in two because of space constraints and to mitigate Covid-19 transmission.

Scott Weinberg, the attorney for Moerschel, lamented that his client wasn’t in the November trial, saying it would have made it easier to point to the group’s ring-leader. Weinberg called Rhodes a “real bad guy.”

“Obviously, these men were swept up by the Stop the Steal nonsense that was pushed by the president,” he said after the case. “When you follow somebody blindly, you end up in a terrible situation.”

Another trial for seditious conspiracy against members of the Proud Boys, another right-wing group present at the insurrection, is ongoing. More than 950 people are facing criminal charges for their involvement in the attack.

Four people died as a direct result of the insurrection.

Article by Ben Shimkus