Federal prosecutors recommended the sentence for the group’s former chairman and a top lieutenant, while also asking for long prison terms for the other three defendants in the case.
Calls for retribution were plentiful after the former president’s indictments, but the demonstrations proved tame, a possible result of the aggressive prosecution of the Jan. 6 rioters.
The 18 years in prison given to Stewart Rhodes for a rarely charged crime underscored the lengths to which the Justice Department and the courts have gone in addressing the assault on the Capitol.
The Justice Department has been successful in holding leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to account, but threats from other groups and radicalized individuals are on the rise.