But Friedrich praised Colt for turning himself in six days after the attack, publicly apologizing and openly aiding investigators after pleading guilty in July 2021 to obstructing a congressional proceeding. She said that was why she was sentencing him to far less time in prison that the men with him that day.
“You were the first person in the January 6 investigation to cooperate, and that puts you in a very, very different posture than your co-conspirators,” Friedrich said.
She agreed with Colt attorney Mark J. Ackley, who said that after becoming a symbol of the attack, Colt could be a “poster child” for making amends.
Colt apologized for his actions, saying that what he and others did was a “tragedy” and “a travesty that never should have happened,” interrupting the democratic process and destroying lives on both sides. Colt said that “there has to be a lot of forgiveness on both sides,” and said that the courts, Justice Department and legal system had begun to restore his faith in the country’s institutions.
“You do have an opportunity to be an agent for change. And you can deliver this message in a way that those of us who didn’t participate can,” Friedrich said.
Though neither was part of any militia-like group, Colt and Nathaniel DeGrave admitted joining a third man, Ronald Sandlin, to raise money, buy paramilitary gear and record themselves before entering the Capitol. There, DeGrave helped a mob force open the East Rotunda doors from the inside, DeGrave and Sandlin assaulted police officers, and all three breached the Senate chamber just evacuated by lawmakers, all three admitted. Colt, then 34, is from the Boise, Idaho, area. DeGrave, then 31, is from Las Vegas, and Sandlin, then 32, is from Memphis.
The three men brought gas masks, guns, knives and bear spray to D.C., and their actions and planning put them “worlds apart from most January 6 defendants,” Justice Department trial attorney Jessica Arco said. Unlike others, none of the men could claim they just “followed the crowd,” got caught up in events, or didn’t plan for impeding lawmakers and police.
“My fellow patriot Josiah Colt sleeping ready for the boogaloo Jan. 6,” Sandlin posted on Facebook on Jan. 4, 2021. The post included a picture of Colt in a bed holding a handgun, and used a term taken up by fringe groups referring to civil war. Sandlin “urge[d] other patriots” watching to “take the Capitol” in another posted video, saying “there is going to be violence,” according to plea papers.
“It’s game time. We are armored up, we got a gas mask. This is what separates us true patriots from everyone else who is all talk,” DeGrave recorded himself saying just before entering the Capitol. Inside, he told Colt and others that he punched an officer “like, five times”; directed Colt to throw open the Senate chamber doors to other rioters; and instructed Colt and others to “take laptops, paperwork, take everything.”
After leaving, DeGrave warned that lawmakers “won’t reject [Trump’s election certification challenge] if they know what’s good for them,” a statement prosecutors said was proof of the men’s intent to intimidate Congress to keep Trump in office.
Before sentencing Colt, Friedrich sentenced DeGrave to 37 months in prison as recommended by prosecutors for both an obstruction count and a charge of assaulting police. Both terms were significantly less than the 63 months handed down for the same charges to Sandlin, who prosecutors called the ringleader and who unlike the others did not cooperate (although DeGrave did so only after being implicated by Colt).
Friedrich noted “aggravating” factors in DeGrave’s case, including his defense that his motivation for participating in the attack was mostly to gain money and fame for his business. Even as he privately cooperated with investigators, DeGrave called himself a “political prisoner” in jail, earning an admonition from his attorney William Shipley that he “could not have it both ways.”
“These statements give pause as to whether DeGrave has fully internalized the wrongfulness of his conduct on January 6,” Arco, the Justice Department attorney, told the court.
DeGrave also profited from his conduct, raising $120,000 in contributions, leading Friedrich to fine him $25,000 or the amount in excess of his claimed legal defense expenses.
Friedrich said she was “shocked” that after DeGrave pleaded guilty in June, prosecutors let him leave jail to remain under home confinement until sentencing, a move she suggested was unwise and unnecessary. Just days before sentencing, she noted, prosecutors reported that DeGrave violated his confinement order by joining his girlfriend in his apartment building’s swimming pool.
But despite DeGrave’s “life-threatening conduct,” Friedrich said she credited his “truly tragic and heartbreaking” upbringing. She also cited his substantial assistance to the government, providing both information that aided in the prosecution of others and some that was not substantiated.
