Iced Earth frontman Jon Schaffer has finally gotten a sentencing date – Feb. 20, 2024 – for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The latest update in the case came this past Friday (Aug. 11), when U.S. District Court Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta issued the following minute order [via CourtListener]:
The Court hereby refers Defendant Schaffer to the U.S. Probation Office for preparation of a presentence investigation report. The Final Presentence Investigation Report shall be due on or before February 6, 2024. The Parties’ Sentencing Memoranda shall be due on or before February 13, 2024. Replies, if any, shall be due on or before February 16, 2024. Reply briefs shall be limited to five pages. Sentencing for JON RYAN SCHAFFER is hereby set for February 20, 2024 at 2:00 PM in Courtroom 10 before Judge Amit P. Mehta. Signed by Judge Amit P. Mehta on 8/11/2023.
In April of 2021, Schaffer pleaded guilty “to a criminal information charging him with obstruction of an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.” Together, the charges could result in him facing “up to 30 years in prison if convicted.”
As Loudwire reported at the time, “over 400 people” were charged for the Capitol invasion, with Schaffer being “one of the first identified in photos” of the event (which happened immediately after the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally).
About two weeks later – on Jan. 18 – he “turned himself in to FBI agents in Indianapolis.”
That April, he was charged by “criminal information, a type of charging document used when a defendant waives the right to an indictment. He was initially charged with six crimes, including engaging in an act of physical violence and targeting police with bear spray, but as part of the plea deal he only plead guilty to two . . . [felony] counts.”
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In December of 2021, Loudwire reported that Schaffer was “one of more than two dozen members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are now being sued by Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine over millions spent by the city to defend the attack.” In fact, the lawsuit described him as “a founding, lifetime member of the Oath Keepers” who – alongside other extremist groups – were “conspiring to terrorize the District.”
By October of 2022, it was revealed that Racine and court process serves were having difficulty finding Schaffer (so that they could deliver documentation to him regarding the lawsuit). Apparently, there were over two dozen attempts “to reach [him] at seven different addresses in three states . . . as he has continually evaded authorities who have been looking for him for months.” As of now, that case is ongoing.
Lastly, Lambgoat clarifies that the “outcome of his [aforementioned] sentence will depend on the value of his cooperation. Previously, he faced a potential prison term of three and a half to four and a half years.”
Of course, Loudwire will continue to follow the case and cover major updates and developments.
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