WASHINGTON — An Oath Keeper and heavy metal guitarist who become the first person to plead guilty to a crime connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol finally has a sentencing date – more than three years after the Capitol riot.
Jon Ryan Schaffer, 54, of Columbus, Indiana, pleaded guilty in April 2021 to two felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon. In June, the Justice Department and Schafer’s attorneys indicated the case was finally ready for sentencing. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta scheduled a hearing for Schaffer for Feb. 20, 2024.
Although Schaffer – a lifetime founding member of the Oath Keepers militia who formed the heavy metal band Iced Earth in the 1980s – was the first Jan. 6 defendant to plead guilty, more than 630 people have now done so. Another 110 defendants have been found guilty at trial. According to the latest update from the Justice Department, nearly 600 people who participated in the riot have been sentenced to date.
Schaffer admitted in his plea agreement that he entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, armed with bear spray and wearing a tactical vest and “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member” hat because he believed the results of the 2020 election were “fraudulent.” Schaffer entered the building around 2:40 p.m. at the front of a mob that broke open doors being guarded by officers on the west side of the building. Schaffer and the mob continued chasing policing into the building, but he eventually exited after being sprayed in the face with chemical irritant.
Schaffer’s plea deal was notable because it contained a lengthy cooperation agreement as well as a clause allowing him to request placement in the Witness Protection Program. Although he was ultimately never called as a witness at trial, a court filing from Jan. 14, 2022 – a day after Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was indicted – shows the Justice Department turned over materials from his grand jury testimony to attorneys for Rhodes and other militia members. Nearly two dozen members of the militia have now been convicted of criminal charges stemming from Jan. 6, including Rhodes, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury last year. Rhodes was sentenced in May to 18 years in prison, although the DOJ has appealed that decision as being too lenient.
Under the terms of his plea, Schaffer faces an estimated sentencing guidelines range of 41-51 months in prison. However, prosecutors may argue he deserves a downward variance for providing substantial assistance to the government. The DOJ has done so for other defendants whose cooperation has secured convictions, including Jacob Fracker, a former Virginia police officer who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and testified last year at the trial of his co-defendant and fellow police officer Thomas Robertson. Robertson, who was convicted on all counts, was sentenced in August to seven years in prison. Fracker was sentenced to 12 months of probation.
In addition to his criminal case, Schaffer is one of more than two dozen defendants named in a civil suit brought by the D.C. Attorney General’s Office in December 2021 alleging members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys violated provisions of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 on Jan. 6.
Schaffer is represented by attorneys Marc Victor and Andrew Marcantel in his criminal case and by Jody Broaddus in his civil case. All three work for the Arizona and Hawaii-based law firm Attorneys for Freedom.