Local right-wing agitator who organized buses down to DC for Jan. 6 and waltzed around the Capitol in exultation sentenced to five months in prison

A former Army captain living in his elderly parents' Malden home will soon be getting new digs thanks to a federal judge, who sentenced him this week to five months in federal prison for the way he waltzed around the Capitol on Jan. 6, yelling stuff like "Yeah! Fuck yeah! Fuck yeah! Patriots Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

How much of that time Mark Sahady of Malden will actually have to serve, of course, depends on whether and when the incoming president makes good on his campaign pledge to pardon everybody convicted for their role in the failed coup he helped kick off in 2021.

Sahady, who before going to DC kept busy organizing anti-gay, anti-trans marches and other events that for some reason kept attracting the Nazis he claimed he wasn't one of, helped organize several busloads of New England y'all quedaists down to DC the day before the attempted putsch.

The US Attorney's office in Washington reports that in addition to five months in prison, US District Court Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Sahady to 12 months of probation, 60 hours of community service and ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine.

Nichols found Sahady guilty in August of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, court records show. Sahady, whose trial was delayed because he kept switching lawyers, asked for a trial before a judge rather than a jury.

In a sentencing memorandum, assistant US Attorneys Kaitlin Klamman and Nathaniel Whitesel asked Nichols to send Sahady away for ten months.

They argued that not only did Sahady organize buses to DC and fantasize beforehand of a violent government takeover, then refuse police orders to leave the Capitol grounds, in the days following the deadly attempt at insurrection he both exulted in what had happened and moved to destroy evidence that might link him to it:

In the days that followed, Sahady made multiple statements to friends about January 6, lauding his and others' actions that day. He also made efforts to conceal evidence, including deleting his messages on an encrypted messaging application called Signal. Following his arrest and the arrest of his co-defendant, Suzanne Ianni, Sahady also made statements to the media and established a fundraising page for his legal defenses, professing his innocence and claiming he was being unfairly targeted by the government.

Prosecutors described how Sahady got ready for the trip to Washington:

Sahady sent messages to others indicating he knew there was a risk that the rally would get out of control and lead to violence. Sahady also anticipated that people would illegally enter the Capitol building. For example, on January 4, 2021, Sahady messaged Individual A and said, "the DC police don't have enough man power to control a million people. It would be up to the federal government and since Trump is still President then supposedly he is in charge of it. If federal authorities or the military acts against his order then that would be a cause for civil war… Do you think they would put people on trial for something done before he took office? Perhaps they would but I believe most of us at that point would feel justified in violently resisting arrest and viewing his administration as an enemy."

He went on to say, "everyone going understands what could happen." During that same conversation, Sahady mused, "Im trying to figure out why anyone would be arrested during the day …if we surround congress and the crowd decides to move into the building then everyone has to make their own decision. Thats the only potential illegal act i think anyone would make."

Later that day, he told Individual A, "I'm not going to sit and hide. I'd choose to fight even if I go down doing it. I guess a new administration could find out anyone that went to the protest and come for them, especially if the protest moves into the Congress building." Sahady also said, "we are all committed to getting there no matter what … that may mean a confrontation with the police because if they block the roads/bridges eventually the numbers will swell and we will just overrun them. At that point they will either have to retreat or shoot people." "If I am scapegoated it is still worth it to me," he said. "If everyone decides to just go into the Congress building then so be it." ...

Sahady was a member of a large group chat which was discussing the recent arrest of a member of the Proud Boys for stealing a Black Lives Matter banner. Sahady told the group, "the government and far left are no doubt happy the banner was stolen. now they have an excuse to make an arrest. if we get arrested it should be for something important that has a big impact. such as taking over congress."

Afterwards, he deleted Signal messages on his phone and told somebody described in the memorandum as Individual A to do the same - only Individual A did not, and turned over his copies of the messages to investigators on Jan. 12 - a week before the FBI arrested Sahady.

Prosecutors acknowledged their recommended sentence was at the high end of federal sentencing guidelines based on the nature of the offenses and Sahady's criminal record, but added:

Here, the defendant's Guidelines range does not capture the unprecedented and uniquely harmful nature of his crimes - namely, his premeditated intent to stop the certification - which struck at the heart of our democracy and the rule of law. While the government is not advocating for a variance or departure, a sentence near the high end of the Guidelines is not only reasonable, but fully balances the defendant's conduct and the circumstances in which he committed said conduct. One cannot divorce the gravity of the overall threat to democracy from the defendant's pre-meditated behavior. ....

It is not hyperbole to call what happened on January 6 a crime of historic magnitude. As judges of this district have repeatedly and clearly stated, January 6 was an unprecedented disruption of the nation's most sacred function - conducting the peaceful transfer of power. "The events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th will be in the history books that our children read, our children's children read and their children's children read. It's part of the history of this nation, and it's a stain on the history of this nation." United States v. Miller. But just as the history books will describe the crimes of January 6, so will they tell the story of how this nation responded. Future generations will rightly ask what this generation did to prevent another such attack from occurring. The damage done to this country on January 6 must be reflected in the sentences imposed on those who caused the damage - it must not be treated as just another crime.

They wrote the fact that Sahady has no criminal record is actually not the mitigating factor it might normally be:

For the most part, Sahady's history and background is neither mitigating nor aggravating. He has no criminal history, a strong employment history, stable finances, a good education, and a supportive family. All these factors would ordinarily support an argument that Sahady poses a lower risk of recidivism. However, they also demonstrate that Sahady had every advantage and every choice available to him except to engage in criminal conduct on January 6. Sahady's crimes were not motivated by poverty, abuse, or addiction. Instead, Sahady committed a very serious crime - rioting at the United States Capitol - because his preferred candidate did not win an election.

Sahady's attorneys, Eden Quainton and Jonathan Gross, though called for a sentence of just 15 days home confinement and six months of probation because of "his peaceful conduct on January 6, his impeccable character, his history of service to his country, his devotion to his family and community, and the need to avoid obvious
sentencing disparities with other non-violent January 6 protestors."

They said that of the hundreds of people on the buses Sahady organized, no more than five were arrested, that Sahady himself did nothing violent even after entering the Capitol and he followed the instructions of police to leave.

Once inside the Capitol building, Mr. Sahady shows concern, not only to respect law enforcement, but to ensure the safety of Ms. Ianni. After spending only a few minutes in the building, Mr. Sahady and Ms. Ianni left peacefully, breaking away from the crowd of protestors who remained in the Capitol.

They added the government has some nerve trying to hold Sahady's military record - he retired as a captain after 18 years, including a stint in Afghanistan - against him, and asked the judge what sort of country we would be if the government could hold somebody's time in the service against him.

Mark Sahady is an honorable and upstanding citizen with no criminal record. He is an army veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan. He is extremely active in his local veteran community, including volunteering to feed local struggling veterans. He sits on the board of directors of his local VFW organization that raises funds and implements programs that lend support to local veterans, advocates on their behalf, and provides other charitable services that enhance veterans' lives. ...

Mr. Sahady lives with his elderly parents, for whom he provides comfort and support on a daily basis. Indeed, the assistance that he provides to them is critical to their health and wellbeing. Mr. Sahady drives his parents to medical appointments, performs errands and grocery shopping, and offers critical support in all areas of life. If Mr. Sahady is sentenced to months in prison, it will create a substantial hardship for his elderly parents.

Government sentencing memorandum (1.9M PDF).
Defense sentencing memorandum (163k PDF)