SARASOTA/CHARLOTTE COUNTIES (SNN TV) – Two Sarasota and Charlotte County men who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, are sentenced to three years in prison.
On Friday, the two Florida men were sentenced for seditious conspiracy and other charges. 45-year-old David Moerschel is a neurophysiologist from Punta Gorda, and 52-year-old Joseph Hackett is a Sarasota chiropractor.
The Herald-Tribune reports they were convicted in January alongside other members of the anti-government extremist group, the Oath Keepers. They were among the lower-level members charged — Moerschel was sentenced to three years and Hackett three and a half.
Moerschel and Hackett helped amass guns and ammunition to stash in a Virginia hotel for a so-called “quick reaction force” that could quickly be sent to Washington, prosecutors said. The weapons were never deployed. Moerschel provided an AR-15 and a Glock semi-automatic handgun and Hackett helped transport weapons.
So far, six people associated with the Oath Keepers have been convicted of the rarely used seditious conspiracy charge, a charge that dates back to the Civil War. Prosecutors have also won seditious conspiracy convictions against another far-right group, the Proud Boys.
