A Texas man received the longest sentencing related to the January 6 riots so far despite not even being at the Capitol

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A Texas man received the longest sentencing related to the January 6 riots so far despite not even being at the Capitol
Brent Stirton/Getty
  • A Texas man was sentenced to 14 months in prison for threats he made on Parler on January 6.
  • Troy Smocks, 58, received the longest prison sentence related to the Capitol riot so far, despite not being present at the riot.
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A Texas man received the longest punishment connected to the January 6 Capitol insurrection on Thursday, despite not even being present at the riot.

A federal judge sentenced Troy Smocks, 58, to 14 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one felony count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.

He was originally also indicted for a second count of the same offense, but it was rescinded when he pleaded guilty.

Smocks admitted to sending several threatening messages onto Parler, a social media app, on January 6 where he called for people to "go hunting" after politicians of both parties.

"Prepare Our Weapons, and then go hunting. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are," Smocks wrote. "This includes, RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs."

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Smocks said the hunting was justified, adding "We now have the green light" after Rep. Mo Brooks "asked the Patriots to pledge Our live and wealth to fight for Our country" and President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters to "fight like hell."

Trump and Brooks' speeches before the Capitol riots began have been placed under the microscope after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell sued the two, among others, saying that Brooks helped "incite the violence at the Capitol" when he told protesters to "start taking down names and kicking ass" and that Trump's rhetoric added additional fuel to the fire when he told his followers to "fight like hell."

According to prosecutors, Smocks' prolonged sentence is a result of his lengthy criminal history of 18 convictions between the early 1980s and 2006, where he was found guilty of producing fake documents, bank fraud, stealing, larceny, auto theft, impersonating a federal agent, and more.

While Smock was sentenced to 14 months in prison, he'll only need to serve five more months because he received credit for time already spent in jail.

Following his prison sentence, Smock must undergo three years of supervised release.

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While Smock's sentencing is the longest so far, several other Capitol riot suspects have received charges that amount to up to 6.5 years in prison but have yet to be sentenced.

At least 684 people have been arrested both locally and federally in relation to the Capitol riot, but only 105 have pleaded guilty so far.

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