WASHINGTON (CN) — A former North Carolina leader of the Proud Boys was sentenced to 40 months in prison on Tuesday for participating in a conspiracy to violently overthrow the government on Jan. 6, 2021.
Charles Donohoe, 35, was the first member of the Proud Boys leadership to take a guilty plea, avoiding a trial that led to a 22-year prison sentence for co-defendant Enrique Tarrio, the longest for any Jan. 6 defendant. He was the second Proud Boy overall to enter a guilty plea and agree to cooperate with the government.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Donald Trump appointee, credited Donohoe for his decision to plead guilty to two counts for conspiracy to obstruct and official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
“I don’t know anyone like Mr. Donohoe, who has this serious conduct married with this extensive effort, in many ways, to make up for that conduct,” Judge Kelly said.
Donohoe’s 40-month-sentence, Kelly said, adds only a few months to the time Donohoe has already spent in jail since his March 2021 arrest. The judge said Donohoe had earned for his time served in jail and for his good behavior while incarcerated.
He added that he was not concerned about trying to deter Donohoe from repeating his actions with the sentence — Donohoe had cooperated with Justice Department prosecutors in its case against other Proud Boy leaders, and his lawyers indicated that he had renounced that life — and was more interested deterring others.
In a statement before the court, Donohoe apologized for his actions, to his family, law enforcement officers at the U.S. Capitol and to the American people. He expressed remorse for taking part in such clearly illegal activities despite his time as an Eagle Scout and a Marine.
“How can I expect to be someone who loves the Constitution and our democratic republic, and do what I did, and not be a hypocrite?” Donohoe asked.
He then issued a warning to anyone else caught up by extremist groups like the far-right Proud Boys.
“Jail is not fun, it is miserable. If you do something crazy and stupid like I did, what happened to me will happen to you,” Donohoe said.
Justice Department prosecutor Jason McCullough described Donohoe in the government’s sentencing memorandum as “instrumental” in the Proud Boys’ conspiracy, serving as a lieutenant to Tarrio’s leadership team in the so-called “Ministry of Self Defense.”
McCullough wrote that Donohoe “served to organize and keep the men in line” after Tarrio was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021, by “nuking” the conspiracy’s group chats and creating a new one.
On Jan. 6, Donohoe relayed communications between the Capitol and the group’s leadership, then joined in clashes with police by throwing water bottles.
Ultimately, however, he did not enter the Capitol and, according to Donohoe, led a group of men away from the building.
On Tuesday, McCullough urged Kelly to grant a motion to lower the potential range Donohoe could be sentenced to, cutting it in half from a high of 87 months to a high of 43 months.
He acknowledged the seriousness of Donohoe’s actions and the potentially devastating effect they could have had on the nation’s democracy, but said his willingness to accept responsibility for his actions and his cooperation made the lower sentence appropriate.
Lisa Costner, a federal defender from North Carolina, tried to explain that Donohoe’s time with the Proud Boys was only “a slice of his life” and came at a time when he was struggling after returning from the military.
Since entering the carceral system, Costner said, Donohoe has made a point to improve himself and educate himself through “voracious reading” and programs so he could permanently leave behind the Proud Boys upon his release.
In September, five other members of the Proud Boys leadership were sentenced for their participation in the conspiracy and their violent actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Tarrio received the highest sentence yet, of 22 years; Ethan Nordean received 18 years; Joseph Biggs received 17; Zachary Rehl received 15 years; and Dominic Pezzola received 10 years.
Each received a terrorism enhancement to their sentences for destroying government property during the riot, leading to harsher sentences.
Pezzola, the only defendant who was acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge among the five, declared “Trump won!” as he walked out of Kelly’s courtroom.
Kelly seemed to chuckle when Costner made an apparent reference to Pezzola, noting that Kelly has likely “seen plenty of defendants who have not been deterred.”
According to the Justice Department, 1,202 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot; 683 people have entered guilty pleas and 428 people have received prison terms.
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