WASHINGTON — A former Virginia police officer who saw himself as part of a pro-Trump "counter insurgency" following the 2020 election was re-sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for his role in the Capitol riot.
Thomas Robertson, who was an officer with the Rocky Mount Police Department prior to his arrest, was sentenced in August 2022 to 87 months, or more than seven years, in prison. Robertson, the second Capitol riot defendant to go to trial, was convicted by a jury of multiple felony counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and destroying evidence.
On Wednesday, Robertson was the first Jan. 6 defendant to go before a judge for resentencing following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this year in Joseph Fischer v. United States which narrowed the use of an obstruction statute charged in hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Because of that decision, and a separate one by the D.C. Circuit barring the use of two enhancements commonly sought alongside that charge, Robertson's sentencing guideline dropped significantly — from between seven and nine years to 37-46 months.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to resentence Robertson to the same 87 months he'd previously given him, arguing the new guidelines did not adequately capture Robertson's intent to disrupt a core government function and "start and armed rebellion."
At his original sentencing, Robertson's attorney, Mark Rollins, had sought a sentence of a little more than two years. He said Wednesday he was "incredulous" at the government's request for the same seven-year sentence for Robertson even after the guidelines had been cut nearly in half.
"Everything that could be taken from this man has been taken," Rollins said. "What you find now is a broken man."
Robertson himself spoke briefly, saying he now understood people were harmed on Jan. 6 and that his actions "allowed a lot of bad things to happen."
Cooper, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2014 by former President Barack Obama, said the government hadn't shown him any cases in which a judge had granted such a significant upward variance as they were seeking. He also said if the obstruction count hadn't been in play in the first place, the initial sentence almost certainly wouldn't have been more than seven years.
"Frankly, I doubt if the government would have recommended a variance of that level," he said.
Cooper said he was still troubled by Robertson's statements after Jan. 6 about his willingness to harm police and the fact that he'd purchased dozens of guns following his indictment.
Cooper ultimately resentenced Robertson to 72 months, or six years, in prison. The sentence represents an upward variance of a little more than two years from Robertson's guideline range, but a 15-month decrease from his original sentence.
Dozens of other Jan. 6 defendants convicted at trial still await resentencing following the Supreme Court's decision. In cases where defendants pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors have so far asked judges to uphold those convictions and sentences.
In the 43 months since the attack on the Capitol, nearly 1,500 people have been arrested and charged with crimes ranging from entering a restricted area to seditious conspiracy. More than 1,100 defendants have now been convicted in connection with the attack.