Joshua James, a former Oath Keeper chapter leader and Army veteran from Alabama who pleaded guilty to engaging in a seditious conspiracy to stop the transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday.
The lenient sentence was thanks to James’ early cooperation with the Justice Department.
Initially indicted alongside Oath Keeper leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes and several other members of the far-right group charged with seditious conspiracy, the Arab, Alabama, man broke ranks in March 2022. James pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and to a single charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.
As part of that plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss other charges James faced, including a document-tampering charge. The bargain that James struck drastically reduced the number of years he could have faced if he went to trial and was convicted of sedition.
The seditious conspiracy charge alone carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison. (Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years.)
When James first pleaded guilty, prosecutors told a federal judge they would seek a sentence of nine years, but in the time since that deal was struck, prosecutors departed significantly. In a memorandum submitted to the court ahead of sentencing, prosecutors told presiding U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta just 24 months, or two years of incarceration, three years of supervised release and a fine of $2,000 were acceptable. Mehta departed from that on Friday, agreeing that he should be given only the probation.
James admitted key information to prosecutors that helped convict nearly a dozen members of the extremist group on numerous charges. He disclosed that the Oath Keepers had plotted to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory from as early as November 2020, when he, Rhodes and others met at Oath Keeper associate and Navy veteran Thomas Caldwell’s farm in Virginia to hash out their strategy.
During the Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy trial in 2022, Caldwell insisted he was never part of the network and often grew emotional or combative on the witness stand as he denied his involvement with the group as well as any suggestion that he deleted incriminating texts or communications with other members. Ultimately, Caldwell was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge, though he was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and tampering with documents. When the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the interpretation of the obstruction charge in Fischer v. United States earlier this year, Caldwell’s obstruction charge was dropped. Now 69 years old, Caldwell has been awaiting sentencing for over a year. He was supposed to be sentenced on Friday, but prosecutors on Thursday requested a delay.
As for James, he admitted that during regular discussions with the group, including discussions Caldwell was privy to, there was never a question about whether the Oath Keepers were willing to use any means necessary to stop the transfer of power, including “lethal force.”
James admitted the Oath Keepers were willing to use lethal force against anyone who tried to remove Donald Trump from the White House, and that included the National Guard.
James also disclosed in his plea deal how Rhodes and fellow Oath Keepers gathered and transported a staggering number of guns, ammunition and tactical gear to a hotel in northern Virginia. It was meant to be the group’s “quick reaction force” ― whether Trump invoked the Insurrection Act or if Rhodes alone ordered them to spring into action.
Ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, James was one of several Oath Keepers who kept contact with Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, including while the GOP operative was in Washington on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6.
Oath Keepers escorted Stone to a rally on Jan. 5 in Washington, serving as his security force.
When the rioting at the U.S. Capitol erupted on Jan. 6, Stone was at the Willard Hotel in Washington with James and other Oath Keepers. James quickly left Stone and took off in a golf cart driven by another Oath Keeper, Roberto Minuta. Rhodes had told them for weeks up to that point that if they were called upon, they were to immediately drop what they were doing and head to the White House to secure a perimeter for Trump.
Minuta and James sped past and through police barricades as they headed toward the Capitol. In a live-streamed video during the golf-cart ride that was entered into evidence at Minuta’s seditious conspiracy trial, Minuta could be heard saying they were going to the Capitol because they had received word that people had breached the building.
James was part of a group of Oath Keepers who marched up the Capitol steps in a stack formation before breaking into the building. Video footage showed James leading Minuta farther into the Capitol where the men would assault and taunt police. Footage from a body-worn camera on a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer, prosecutors said, showed James yelling at officers and pushing them violently. At one point, the officer is heard telling James to leave while he pants and says he cannot breathe.
After the Capitol attack, James stayed in contact with Rhodes and followed Rhodes’ instructions to delete encrypted texts shared among members of the group. James directly told other Oath Keepers to delete communications, too, and remove messages from their chats that included photos that might show their faces.
James stayed with Rhodes in Texas for a few weeks after Jan. 6. He was Rhodes’ security guard. Rhodes gave James a burner phone and told him to use a fake identity when he used the phone. In the weeks before the inauguration, James accompanied Rhodes on numerous trips where Rhodes purchased more firearms, ammunition, scopes, holsters and tactical equipment.
James told Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs — also later convicted of seditious conspiracy — to “stay below the radar” as they awaited instructions for their next steps. James finally left Rhodes in Texas in early February. Biden had been inaugurated and Rhodes feared arrest, prosecutors wrote in James’ sentencing memorandum this month.
Rhodes told James to be ready for “civil war” and sent him back home to Alabama. Rhodes asked him to store their gear in a shed once he got there and await further instruction.
James agreed.
According to Politico, James offered a tearful apology at his sentencing on Friday.
More than 1,500 people have been prosecuted in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, but those charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy are in an elite group of defendants. It was the most serious charge to emerge.
President-elect Trump has indicated he will pardon Jan. 6 rioters when he takes office in January. It is unclear if those who plotted to stop the transfer of power after the 2020 election will be included.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that James was sentenced to two years of incarceration.