File photo Jon Schaffer is facing six federal crimes for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that federal prosecutors had overstepped in bringing obstruction charges against one of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could affect the prosecution of hundreds of Capitol riot defendants — including a former Columbus resident.
The justices ruled 6-3 on Friday that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding, enacted in 2002 in response to the financial scandal that brought down Enron Corp., must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents, The Associated Press reported.
About 350 people have been charged with obstruction related to their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 attack, including former Columbus resident and former heavy metal musician Jon Schaffer, who pleaded guilty to the same obstruction charge. Former President Donald Trump also is facing the same obstruction charge for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The decision could be used as fodder for claims by Trump and his Republican allies that the Justice Department has treated the Capitol riot defendants unfairly, according to wire reports.
Currently, it is unclear if or how the high court’s ruling will impact the prosecution of Schaffer. Court filings do not make any mention of Schaffer trying to tamper with or destroy documents during the Jan. 6 attack.
However, the obstruction charge was one of two charges that Schaffer pleaded guilty to. He also pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Schaffer, who is a former member of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, was photographed inside the Capitol wearing a tactical vest and hat that said, “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member,” with bear spray in his hand, according to court filings.
As part of his guilty plea, Schaffer acknowledged that he is “a founding, lifetime member of the Oath Keepers” and believes that “the federal government has been ‘co-opted’ by a cabal of elites actively trying to strip American citizens of their rights.”
The Oath Keepers is a militia group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders.
The case that the Supreme Court heard involves Joseph Fischer, a former Pennsylvania police officer, who is facing a seven-count indictment for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, including the obstruction charge, and two other defendants, according to wire reports. The Supreme Court returned the case of former Pennsylvania police officer Joseph Fischer to a lower court to determine if Fischer can be charged with obstruction.
Schaffer’s attorneys, for their part, have argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fischer case “directly relates to and impacts the validity” of Schaffer’s plea and conviction and could factor into what his ultimate sentence would be.
“If Mr. Schaffer is sentenced to a term of incarceration (for the obstruction charge) … and begins serving his sentence, he will be irreparably harmed as he would lose his gainful employment, uproot his life and serve time for a felony that may be invalidated by the Fischer outcome,” one of Schaffer’s attorneys said in court filings.
In February, a federal judge rejected a request by Schaffer to delay his sentencing hearing until the Supreme Court weighed in on the scope of the obstruction charge, ruling that “there are other procedural mechanisms by which defendant can seek to delay any term of incarceration, if one is imposed. …And the public interest weighs in favor of not delaying sentencing.”
However, U.S District Judge Amit P. Mehta agreed to postpone sentencing on medical grounds, as Schaffer might undergo an undisclosed medical procedure “with the need for a recovery afterwards.” Sentencing was later postponed again because Schaffer’s attorney was scheduled to be outside of the country.
Schaffer is currently scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 2.
Federal authorities justified the obstruction charge against Schaffer by alleging that he “attempted to, and did, corruptly obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding; that is, Schaffer forcibly entered the Capitol to, and did, stop, delay and hinder Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote,” according to court records.
“Even if the Supreme Court were to decide Fischer adversely to the government, it is not clear that the court’s interpretation of (the obstruction charge) would necessarily invalidate Schaffer’s conviction in this case,” federal prosecutors said in court filings. “And even if it did, the appropriate venue for challenging such a sentence would be a post-sentencing appeal, and not a motion to set aside the verdict. …Moreover, obstruction of Congress was not Defendant Schaffer’s only conviction. He will also be sentenced for unlawfully entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.”
Schaffer is not the only Capitol riot defendant with ties to Bartholomew County.
Two Bartholomew County residents — Donald Lee Moss of Elizabethtown and James Link Behymer of Hope — are also currently facing criminal charges over their alleged participation in the riot. However, they are not facing the obstruction charge.
