Phoenix resident Edward Vallejo, a veteran who helped orchestrate the violent plot to prevent the transfer of power from President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to three years behind bars followed by one year of home confinement. Vallejo managed to avoid the 17 years federal prosecutors wanted him to serve in prison, AZFamily reports.

Vallejo led a “Quick Reaction Force” based at a Virginia hotel. Members were prepared to deploy an arsenal of weapons to Washington if it was deemed necessary, according to authorities. In January he was convicted of seditious conspiracy. This is the most serious charge the Justice Department has handed down in regard to the January 6 attack. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Vallejo that he and his cohorts can’t conspire to “undo” the results of an election just because they don’t like the outcome.

“It can’t be that dozens of judges got it wrong,” the judge told him, referring to the other judges who rejected the numerous legal challenges after the 2020 election brought by Trump and his Republican cronies. “If you believe in the system, if you believe in democracy, you take the good with the bad.”

Perhaps Trump’s supporters and fellow GOPers were taking a cue from Trump who seems to think he can bully his way into getting what he wants. Seems like that’s what the deadly Capitol riot was about and these people were proved wrong.

Vallejo seems to understand now that the actions he undertook on this disastrous day have serious consequences.

He told Judge Mehta his life has been ruined and he regrets ever connecting with Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right group, the Oath Keepers. “I assure you that I’m not a traitor or a terrorist,” he said, holding tears back. “I’ve learned my lesson and keeping my big mouth shut.”

Louis Manzo, a Justice Department prosecutor, characterized Vallejo as the leader of the “Quick Reaction Force,” saying he managed one of the most important components of the Oath Keepers’ conspiracy: the cache of firearms stored at the Virginia hotel. Fortunately, the weapons weren’t deployed.

As part of a podcast recorded prior to the failed siege on January 6, Vallejo threatened that a “guerrilla war” could happen if Congress went ahead with certifying Biden’s electoral victory. On the day after the riot, he traveled to Washington “conduct surveillance” and “probe the defense line” of police and National Guard troopers surrounding the Capitol, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Matthew Peed claimed Vallejo was a minor figure in the case, saying that Vallejo brought extra food with him to Washington because he believed there would be an “ongoing protest,” not a war.

“He thought there was going to be a movement,” Peed said.

If he thought this was only going to be a protest then why did he bring weapons? Someone should tell him and Kyle Rittenhouse that weapons do not belong at a protest.

Vallejo managed to avoid the whopping sentence that Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers was given last week. He was ordered to serve 18 years behind bars. This is the longest sentence handed down so far in the multitude of Capitol riot cases. Fellow Oath Keeper, Kelly Megs, leader of the group’s Florida branch, was sentenced to 12 years.

Reporter Kyle Cheney detailed how Vallejo cried and begged for home confinement:

VALLEJO now addressing the court. Thrust of his lawyer's allocution: Vallejo was manipulated by Trump/Rhodes to believe that what he did on Jan. 6 was patriotic. He realizes now that it wasn't.

This argument hasn't flown in felony cases. but Mehta's response will be interesting.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 1, 2023

VALLEJO says he was deeply affected by teh victim impact statements last week, especially by Harry DUNN. "I would do anything to help console him … I’m likewise sorry that I had anything to do with it."

"I wish I never associated myself with Stewart Rhodes."

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 1, 2023

VALLEJO, through tears, begs for home incarceration: "I would rather be incarcerated at home for the rest of my natural life than spend a year or even a month in prison as a burden to her [his wife] and my family."

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 1, 2023

MEHTA: "If you believe in democracy, you take the good with the bad. You take the results you don’t like. You can’t conspire to undo a result or prevent the result from happening because you and a group of cohorts believed that process failed you. It can’t happen."

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 1, 2023

THE SENTENCE: Vallejo sentenced to 36 months in prison.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 1, 2023

Mehta concurred with the Justice Department that Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers’ actions could be punished as “terrorism,” increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines. Mehta has, however, consistently issued shorter sentences for members of the Oath Keepers than were recommended by prosecutors.

But each of the members of the far-right group who have been sentenced will still have plenty of time in prison to ponder their bad decisions.