In the Spotlight
Nick R. Hamilton
September 6, 2024
From Slay News
A former Virginia cop and war veteran has had his sentence reduced by more than a year for his conviction over the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
However, ex-Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson is still facing a long term in prison until he will be released.
Robertson had his original sentence of seven years and three months reduced to six years.
The reduction came after the Supreme Court rebuked the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) for stretching the law on “obstruction of an official proceeding.”
This is the first example of a sentence being reduced because of the court’s June ruling in Fischer v. United States.
The Supreme Court clarified that the obstruction statute, which became law after the Enron scandal, only applies to those who destroy physical evidence.
The DOJ has charged hundreds with obstruction of an official proceeding for interrupting the certification of the 2020 election.
In some cases, it is the only felony filed against January 6 participants.
Robertson was convicted of multiple felonies, including obstruction of an official proceeding and entering a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.
The former cop, who was off-duty at the time, entered the Capitol with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third unidentified man.
Once inside, Robertson and Fracker photographed themselves giving the middle finger in front of astatue of John Stark, an American Revolutionary War general.
Robertson, a veteran who was injured in Afghanistan, shared social media posts indicating he was prepared to fight in a “counter-insurgency.”
“I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting a counter-insurgency,” he wrote.
“(I’m) about to become part of one, and a very effective one.”
Prosecutors officially moved to drop Robertson’s obstruction conviction Wednesday but insisted that the judge keep his 87-month sentence, arguing he came prepared to start an “armed rebellion.”
Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, balked at the request and lowered the sentence to six years.
The judge said he doubted Robertson’s original sentence would have been more than seven years if not for the obstruction charge.
Robertson expressed remorse to the court as his defense lawyer, Mark Rollins, insisted he had no intent to “overthrow democracy.”
“Everything that could be taken from this man has been taken,” Rollins said.
“What you find now is a broken man.”
Robertson served in the Iraq War and was wounded by gunshot and mortar shrapnel in the Afghanistan War, undergoing 10 surgeries to recover.
He became a sergeant with the Rocky Mount Police Department, but he was fired, along with Fracker, after their involvement in Jan. 6 came to light.
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