An Army veteran was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Oath Keepers' sprawling plot to stop the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 victory, which culminated in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
Edward Vallejo, who was affiliated with the Oath Keepers but not a member of the far-right militia, was one of the alleged leaders of the armed, so-called quick reaction force staged just outside of Washington, DC, on January 6.
Judge Amit Mehta said he "can appreciate" Vallejo's concern over election integrity that brought the Arizona native to DC after the election and said that "people like Mr. Vallejo are victims in their own right" of misinformation.
"That doesn't mean that people aren't responsible for their own actions," Mehta said.
As the riot unfolded, Vallejo -- who earlier that day called for "guerilla war" -- waited across the Potomac River, repeatedly texting that he was "outfitted" and that he'd deploy if others "just say the word." No one responded to his messages and the QRF was not deployed.
Prosecutor Louis Manzo said that Vallejo was "poised, armed, ready" to bring guns into DC on January 6, and the only reason Vallejo didn't deploy the QRF was because Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes did not give the order.
"What if Rhodes' mind had ticked a little bit differently in that moment," Manzo said. "Is there any doubt in your honor's mind that Vallejo would have delivered?"
In emotional testimony to the judge, Vallejo tearfully apologized to police officers and the judge for being "foolish and wrong-sighted" on January 6.
"I wish I never associated myself with Stewart Rhodes," Vallejo said. "I thought our democracy was being undermined and was doing anything I could to protect it. I see now how wrong I was."
Vallejo recounted how he was medically discharged from the Army and spiraled into alcoholism as a result. Now, four decades sober, Vallejo thanked Mehta for allowing him to go to a recent Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to receive his 40-year sobriety chip.
Vallejo also thanked Mehta for allowing him to stay out of jail during his legal case. Vallejo said he lost his job after his arrest, which forced his wife to work -- and she is now "too tired" even to cook herself dinner.
"I would rather be in home incarceration for the rest of my natural born life than a year or even a month in prison" away from home, Vallejo said.
He continued: "I assure you that I am not a danger or a terrorist. I am not a flight risk or a danger to anyone in society. I have learned the lesson to keep my big mouth shut and have given up politics, the internet, and basically the outside world."
Vallejo is the fourth person to be sentenced for seditious conspiracy linked to the January 6 riot. Mehta handed down the first sentences in over a decade for seditious conspiracy last week, Rhodes and the leader of the Oath Keepers' Florida contingent, Kelly Meggs, to 18 years and 12 years in prison respectively. Earlier Thursday, Mehta sentenced Roberto Minuta, an Oath Keeper who acted as part of a security detail on January 6 for Roger Stone before rushing to join the riot at the Capitol, to more than four years in prison.
