A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has decided that hundreds of January 6 offenders were sentenced to excessive jail terms based on abuse of a statute regarding “the interference with the administration of justice.”
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Friday that defendant Larry Brock, a retired Air Force colonel sentenced to two years in federal prison for peacefully demonstrating in a building, was wrongfully sentenced.
According to Circuit Judge Millett, who wrote the court’s ruling, alleged interference with Congress’ certification of the presidential election in 2021 does not qualify for a sentence increase. Thus, the court affirmed Brock’s conviction but disagreed with his sentence.
“Regarding Brock’s sentence, we hold that the ‘administration of justice’ enhancement does not apply to interference with the legislative process of certifying electoral votes,” Judge Millett concluded.
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Brock’s conviction under 18 U.S.C § 1512(c)(2), but we vacate Brock’s sentence for his Section 1512(c)(2) conviction and remand to the district
37 court for resentencing without the application of Section 2J1.2(b)(2)’s sentencing enhancement,” the court ordered.
The massive court decision might have an impact on hundreds of January 6 defendants who were