Capitol Rioter Thanks Judge After Being Sentenced to 10 Years in Jail

Convicted Capitol rioter Christopher Worrell thanked a federal judge after being sentenced to a decade behind bars on Thursday.

Worrell, a member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group, was convicted in May of seven charges related to his participation in the January 6 attack, including assaulting police officers with pepper spray gel. He was the target of a weeks-long FBI manhunt months later after escaping house arrest shortly before a sentencing hearing.

Senior D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, allowed Worrell to go on house arrest after holding D.C. Department of Corrections officials in contempt for violating the defendant's civil rights while he was incarcerated.

The treatment of Worrell, who has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and also contracted COVID-19 during his time in jail, became a key issue in the pro-Trump "Justice for J6" movement and related protests.

Lamberth sentenced Worrell to 10 years on Thursday, significantly less than the 14 years initially requested by the Department of Justice. Prosecutors argued in a court filing last month that the judge "should increase the sentence" due to Worrell's time as a fugitive.

Worrell was "tearful and apologetic" during the sentencing hearing and thanked Lamberth for having "saved [his] life," according to a series of posts by Politico reporter Kyle Cheney on X, formerly Twitter.

Lamberth reportedly credited Worrell with helping D.C. inmates by alerting authorities to conditions at the jail. The judge also said that he would recommend Worrell be sent to a medical facility instead of prison, according to CBS News.

However, Lamberth was not entirely sympathetic to Worrell during the hearing, reportedly objecting to the defendant describing himself as a "political prisoner" and shooting down his claim of using the pepper gel in self-defense.

Worrell was also given a much longer sentence that his defense had requested. His attorney, William Shipley, cited his client's health conditions while asking for a sentence of only 30 months under house arrest.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Shipley via email on Thursday.

Although Worrell's lymphoma diagnosis is not in doubt, authorities have accused him of faking or exaggerating other medical conditions on more than one occasion.

In October 2021, shortly after Lamberth held prison officials in contempt for what he said was an "inexcusable" delay in treatment for an injury to Worrell's pinky, prosecutors argued that he rejected a doctor's diagnosis and lied about needing surgery to fix what was a cosmetic issue.

After being found and arrested in September 2023 following his pre-sentencing escape, Worrell was accused of staging a drug overdose to postpone further legal proceedings. Prosecutors presented an email from Worrell describing the overdose as a "delay tactic," according to Law & Crime.

Worrell told Lamberth during the sentencing hearing on Thursday that "he contemplated suicide and swallowed a bottle of pills when FBI caught him after 45 days on the lam," according to an X post from Cheney.