Photo:Gage Skidmore
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Entry openedJan 2022
Last updatedAug 2026
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Militia & extremist groups
Elmer Stewart Rhodes
Militia founder
Convicted of seditious conspiracy for the Capitol assault; sentenced to eighteen years; pardoned in 2025.
Documented conduct
May 25, 2023
Sentenced to eighteen years
Sentenced to eighteen years in prison for seditious conspiracy, the first January 6 defendant sentenced on that charge and then the longest sentence of any. The court applied the terrorism enhancement. The judge told him: "The moment you are released, whenever that may be, you will be ready to take up arms against your government." The sentence was commuted on January 20, 2025.
Source: PBS NewsHour, May 25 2023; Proclamation 10887