Oath Keeper Roberto Minuta gets 4.5 years for Jan. 6 riot

An Oath Keeper who guarded Roger Stone before storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to four and a half years in prison for his actions.

Roberto Minuta, 38, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and several other crimes back in January 2023.

Minuta was part of a large group of far-right Oath Keepers who plotted to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Donald Trump by storming the Capitol building, according to federal prosecutors.

The seditious conspiracy charges were the most serious leveled by the feds. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison, the longest Jan. 6-related sentence so far.

But Minuta received a much lighter sentence, despite prosecutors asking for 17 years behind bars.

“This is not about politics. This is not about your beliefs. It’s about your conduct,” Judge Amit Mehta said before sentencing Minuta.

Minuta, a tattoo shop owner in Newburgh, N.Y., drove to Washington, D.C. ahead of Jan. 6, along with many of his fellow Oath Keepers after they discussed the plan online. On the way, he took a video of himself yelling that “millions will die” in an upcoming civil war and warning viewers to “get your f—ing soul ready.”

Stone, a longtime Republican operative, was in D.C. on Jan. 6 but not directly involved in the riot. Minuta was with Stone away from the Capitol when the chaos broke out, but he hopped in a golf cart with fellow Oath Keepers and sped over to the building when they heard the news.

Minuta is now the third person convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive a sentence. Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs, who led the group’s Florida chapter, got 12 years.

Two other Oath Keepers have been acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.

With News Wire Services