If one ever attends a sentencing or reads a transcript, if a defendant has made a “deal” with the prosecutors, the judge spends – literally – about ten minutes making sure that the defendant 100% understands that the judge is under no obligation to follow the recommended sentence. The judge is the judge, and – believe it or not, most are really good at it. Only a judge can determine the sentence.

Of course, they almost always follow the recommended sentences or there would be no reason to reach deals with the prosecutors (most of whom are also very good). But every once in a while, a judge believes that the recommendation isn’t sufficient. Rarely does a judge believe that the recommendation is only half what the prosecutor has recommended as happened in the case of the infamous pot-smoking rioter:

A federal judge sentenced a New York man to twice the government’s recommended sentence on Wednesday, saying he’d shown no remorse for and had even downplayed the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building.

James Bonet, 30, pleaded guilty in October to one misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building. The judge sentenced Bonet to 90 days in jail – twice the DOJ’s request – and a year of supervised release.

As part of the plea deal, the government agreed to drop a much more serious felony charge of obstructing the joint session of Congress that could have earned Bonet up to 20 years in prison.

🚨 SENTENCE: U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan sentences James Bonet to 90 days in jail — twice the 45 days the DOJ asked for — and one year of supervision. He'll also have to serve 200 hours of community service. #CapitolRiot pic.twitter.com/zPfJLI01jD

— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) March 9, 2022

As much as Bonet will be upset that the judge doubled up on his sentence, he should still be grateful that he wasn’t standing there being sentenced for a felony. The prosecutors did him a favor. The recommendation would be for at least a year, and he knows the judge believes that the prosecutors undershot on this one.

U.S. District Judge Sullivan did not find Bonet to be remorseful about his crime. According to WUSA9:

Sullivan, however, said an interview Bonet did in January with ABC-affiliate WTEN in New York convinced him that Bonet was not as remorseful as he claimed. In the interview, three months after he’d pleaded guilty in the case, Bonet called Jan. 6 his “peaceful protest” and said officers had let him into the building.

“At 30 years of age, it’s time to wake up and smell the roses!” Sullivan said.

Sullivan sentenced Bonet to 90 days in jail – twice the DOJ’s request – and a year of supervised release. Bonet will also have to pay $500 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol and complete 200 hours of community service.

Sentenced for Jan 6: James Bonet gets 90 days in prison after admitting to smoking a joint in the Capitol after illegally entering the building.

"It's our president who was inciting these people to do this," his defense attorney said. pic.twitter.com/bwuVpDQIJd

— Rob Legare (@RobLegare) March 9, 2022

Repeating what we’ve said since the election, several well-placed, good, honest, Republicans (Kemp, Ducey, Reffensberger) and the American judiciary – including Trump appointed judges, truly saved Democracy after the election. Here is just another example of a judge that understands the danger of what happened that day.

Bonet also posted his rioting on Facebook:

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