Judge demands answers after Jan. 6 defendant recants guilt

[GregariousGroundhog]

44. Not an attorney, but I don't mind reading through the federal sentencing guidelines

https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annotated

First off, this all assumes he has no prior criminal history

If I'm reading the manual correct correctly, Obstructing Congressional or Administrative Proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1505), maps to section 2J1.2 of the sentencing manual (per Appendix A). Section 2J1.2 calls for a level 14 sentence, unless he threatened or used in violence, in which case it calls for a level 22 sentence. By accepting responsibility, he could have removed two levels from his sentence (per section 3E1.1). Level 12 calls for 10-16 months of imprisonment whereas level 14 calls for 15-21 months. Level 20 calls for 33-41 months, while level 22 calls for 41-51 months.

So this defendant likely earned himself an extra 5 months (if he merely followed people like a lemming) or 8-10 months (if he partook in violence) behind bars.