Ray Epps, who participated in the riot on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, has been sentenced to 12 months of probation.
WASHINGTON—Ray Epps, who participated in the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced on Jan. 9 to 12 months of probation.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg also sentenced Mr. Epps to 100 hours of community service and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution due in 60 days.
Mr. Epps—who, along with his lawyer, Edward Ungvarsky, appeared virtually via Zoom while Judge Boasberg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon were in the courtroom—appeared to show no emotion as Mr. Boasberg rendered the sentence.
Mr. Boasberg remarked that it was a difficult sentencing and that, while Mr. Gordon was “balanced in [his] presentation,” it is a “vast overstatement” that Mr. Epps was a leader on Jan. 6 despite having been toward the front of the mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in that he sought to diffuse tensions at least five times—a mitigating factor in the sentence.
Nonetheless, Mr. Boasberg noted that Mr. Epps went through barricades outside the Capitol despite knowing that doing so was unlawful, though Mr. Epps did not break the barricades and only turned back when he was near the Capitol steps.
Mr. Epps, 62, turned himself in to the FBI on Jan. 8 and confessed to his actions and testified before the House Jan. 6 Select Committee the following year.
Mr. Boasberg, Mr. Gordon, and Mr. Ungvarsky all criticized threats Mr. Epps had received since Jan. 6 stemming from his actions that day.
Mr. Gordon said Mr. Epps has been “unfairly scapegoated” but argued he deserves to go to prison as he committed multiple crimes even though he ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds. Mr. Epps, according to Mr. Gordon, sought to intimidate Congress during its certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory and even attended a rally the night before the riot.
“He didn’t start the riot,” said Mr. Gordon. “He made it worse.”
