Jan. 6 Prisoner Gets His Sentence Reduced Thanks to Supreme Court Ruling
A former police officer from Virginia, Thomas Robertson, who participated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, had his prison sentence reduced from over seven years to six years following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This Supreme Court decision limited the government’s ability to apply a federal obstruction law, requiring proof of attempts to tamper with or destroy documents to pursue such charges. Robertson was the first Capitol riot defendant to benefit from this ruling, as his obstruction conviction was dismissed during his re-sentencing hearing. Though prosecutors sought to keep the original sentence, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper decided on the lighter term, allowing Robertson to express regret for his actions on that day and look forward to rebuilding his life. His defense attorney described him as a “broken man” who made poor choices but did not intend to overthrow democracy. Following the riot, both Robertson and another officer involved were fired from their positions.
A former Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol received a reduced prison sentence of six years on Wednesday, making him one of the first beneficiaries of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the government’s use of a federal obstruction law.
More than two years ago, former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson originally was sentenced to seven years and three months of imprisonment for joining the January 6, 2021, raid on the Capitol.
Prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to preserve the original sentence, but the judge imposed the shorter prison term Wednesday after agreeing to dismiss Robertson’s conviction for obstructing the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Robertson was the first Capitol riot defendant to be re-sentenced after the dismissal of a conviction for the obstruction charge at the center of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, according to Justice Department prosecutors. The high court ruled 6-3 that a charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that a defendant tried to tamper with or destroy documents — a distinction that applies to few January 6th criminal cases.
“I assume I won’t be seeing you a third time,” the judge told Robertson at the end of his second sentencing hearing.
Robertson, who declined to address the court at his first sentencing hearing, told the judge on Wednesday that he looks forward to returning home and rebuilding his life after prison.
“I realize the positions that I was taking on that day were wrong,” he said of January 6th. “I’m standing before you very sorry for what occurred on that day.”
A jury convicted Robertson of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers during a civil disorder and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick. Robertson’s jury trial was the second among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.
Robertson traveled to Washington on that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who was not charged in the case.
Fracker, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with the government, was sentenced in 2022 to probation and two months of home detention.
Jurors who convicted Robertson saw some of his posts on social media before and after the riot. In a post on November 7, 2020, Robertson said “being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line.”
Prosecutors said Robertson used his law enforcement and military training to block police officers who were trying to hold off the advancing mob.
Defense attorney Mark Rollins said Robertson made bad choices and engaged in bad behavior on January 6th, but was not trying to “overthrow democracy” that day.
“What you find now is a broken man,” Rollins said.
The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles south of Roanoke, Virginia, and has about 5,000 residents.
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