Photo provided Jon Schaffer will be sentenced on federal charges for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have said former Columbus resident heavy metal musician Jon Schaffer’s cooperation with law enforcement was so “substantial” and “significant” that he should not do any prison time for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Instead, Schaffer should receive three years of probation — including six months of home confinement — pay $2,000 in restitution and the mandatory $200 special assessment and perform 120 hours of community service, according to prosecutors, who outlined their rationale in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., this week.
Schaffer is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 25.
“The nature and extent of Schaffer’s assistance has been significant,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves states in the filing. “…He proffered multiple times with government, and the information he provided was truthful and material.”
The filing provides some more details about Schaffer’s level of involvement with planning the deadly insurrection and his cooperation with law enforcement as they investigated the violent mob loyal to former President Donald Trump that stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn America’s presidential election.
Schaffer, who has acknowledged being “a founding, lifetime member of the Oath Keepers,” provided information to law enforcement on several occasions and testified before a grand jury, according to the court filing. The Oath Keepers is a militia group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders.
While the court filing redacts the names of the individuals Schaffer provided information on, his attorneys said in October 2022 that he was cooperating with federal authorities investigating Thomas Caldwell, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer who was convicted in November 2022 in the U.S. Capitol attack alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.
Schaffer’s attorney described the investigation into Caldwell at the time as the “largest conspiracy arising out of the incident,” referring to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
However, Schaffer did not participate in the Oath Keepers’ planning and coordination for the attack, was not part of any of the group’s encrypted chats about what is described as the “Jan. 6 operation” and “did not participate in the conspiracy to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of power,” prosecutors said.
“Because Schaffer did not participate in the conspiracy to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of power, he did not have as much information to share as some other individuals who have cooperated with this investigation, but he fully and credibly answered all of the questions placed before him, and he testified before the grand jury about this information,” the filing states.
Schaffer, who is best known as a former member of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, was photographed inside the U.S. Capitol during the attack wearing a tactical vest and hat that said, “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member,” with bear spray in his hand, according to court filings.
Following the attack and a widely circulated photograph of him during the attack, Schaffer turned himself in to law enforcement on Jan. 17, 2021 “and very quickly conveyed through his counsel his desire to plead guilty and cooperate with law enforcement,” according to the filing.
Schaffer was the first of more than 700 pro-Trump rioters who have pleaded guilty to criminal offenses related to the deadly insurrection. In April 2021, the former Columbus resident pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Last week, prosecutors and Schaffer’s attorney filed a joint notice in federal court acknowledging that he was seeking records and documents related to the certification of the 2020 presidential election — including ballot certificates — when he stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Schaffer was inside the U.S. Capitol “for less than 10 minutes and did not directly harm or seek to harm any officers or property during this offense,” according to prosecutors.
“This cooperation was not without risks,” the filing states. “To be the first person to plead guilty, and to do so pursuant to a public cooperation plea agreement, in a case that has garnered such national interest and, sadly, controversy, took courage on Schaffer’s part. While the government is not aware of any direct threats to Schaffer or his family, other individuals who cooperated publicly with the government in this investigation have received such threats. Thus, this court should give Schaffer credit for the danger and risk of injury to himself and to his family that resulted from his entry into a public cooperation plea agreement in this case.”
The filing from prosecutors is the latest twist in a legal saga that has been beset with delays. Schaffer’s sentencing hearing has been delayed five times this year, with dates being scheduled in February, April, July, August, September and October.
Most recently, the delays came as prosecutors continue to sort out how the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on an obstruction charge impacts the case.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal prosecutors had overstepped in bringing obstruction charges against one of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a ruling that was believed could affect the prosecution of hundreds of Capitol riot defendants — including Schaffer.
The justices ruled 6-3 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.
Last week, prosecutors said in a court filing that Schaffer’s “efforts to stop, impede and delay the certification proceeding targeted—and were intended to target—all aspects of the proceeding, including impairing the availability or integrity of the records, documents, objects and other things used in the proceedings.”
“This includes, but is not limited to, the ballot certificates at issue in the proceeding,” the filing states.
As of this past January, approximately 718 individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Approximately 213 have pleaded guilty to felonies. Another 505 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.
Those figures do not include James Link Behymer of Hope and Donald Lee Moss of Elizabethtown, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer during the U.S. Capitol attack. The offense carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan — who also is presiding over the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 13.
