Former Proud Boys leader and Oath Keepers founder released after Trump offers Jan. 6 clemency

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former leader of the Proud Boys and the founder of the Oath Keepers have been released from prison after their lengthy sentences for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol were wiped away by a sweeping order from President Donald Trump benefiting more than 1,500 defendants.

Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes were two of the highest-profile Jan. 6 defendants and received some of the harshest punishments in what became the largest investigation in Justice Department history. Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was serving an 18-year prison sentence, and Tarrio, of Miami, was serving a 22-year sentence after they were convicted of orchestrating plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump, a Republican, lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Their attorneys confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday they had been released hours after Trump pardoned, commuted the sentences of or ordered the dismissal of cases against all the 1,500-plus people who were charged with federal crimes in the riot. Trump's action paved the way for the release of extremist group leaders convicted in major conspiracy cases, as well people who violently attacked law enforcement officers defending the Capitol.