Prosecutors agree to delay sentencing for Oath Keeper as Supreme Court holds Jan. 6 obstruction statute in balance

A Justice Department exhibit from the Oath Keepers trial depicts several members who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Highlighted with a green arrow is Ohio resident Donovan Crowl. From left to right: David Moerschel identified by red arrow; William Isaacs in purple, Jessica Watkins under yellow arrow, Laura Steele identified with orange arrow. Kelly Meggs is identified with a blue arrow and Connie Meggs, his wife, identified with white arrow.

A Justice Department exhibit from the Oath Keepers trial depicts several members who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Highlighted with a green arrow is Ohio resident Donovan Crowl. From left to right: David Moerschel identified by red arrow, William Isaacs under purple arrow, Jessica Watkins under yellow arrow, Laura Steele under orange arrow. Kelly Meggs is identified with a blue arrow and Connie Meggs, his wife, identified with white arrow (via DOJ court filing).

As a significant ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court lies just ahead on a controversial charge applied to hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters and former President Donald Trump himself, federal prosecutors have agreed to temporarily delay sentencing for Donovan Crowl, one of the first Oath Keepers charged in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Crowl, a former U.S. Marine from Ohio, was seen marching up the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, 2021, in a single-file military style “stack” formation with several of his now-convicted Oath Keepers cohorts. He was found guilty at a stipulated bench trial last July before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, a Barack Obama appointee.

Mehta, as Law&Crime previously reported, acquitted Crowl’s co-defendant, Broadway actor James Beeks, at that stipulated trial. But according to the statement of facts stipulated to Mehta, Crowl was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official congressional proceeding — specifically, the proceeding to certify the results of the 2020 election — as well as an act to obstruct, impede or interfere with officers carrying out their duties at the Capitol.

Crowl, 50, could have faced a jury like dozens of other Oath Keepers did, including the network’s leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Rhodes’ foot soldier on the ground Kelly Meggs — who Crowl followed up the Capitol steps — or Rhodes’ co-defendant and Crowl’s onetime friend, Oath Keepers recruiter Jessica Watkins.

It was established that Crowl did not see communications between Rhodes and other Oath Keepers who vowed to partake in a “civil war.” However, Mehta found Crowl did align himself closely with Watkins on Jan. 6 and that evidence showed he was privy to a conversation with Meggs inside the Capitol when Meggs declared they intended to stop the count. It didn’t help him with the judge either that he came to Washington, D.C., donning tactical gear like a helmet meant for combat and bulletproof vest.

In the days since Crowl’s verdict, Rhodes, Meggs and Watkins, have all been serving out lengthy sentences in prison. Crowl has not. Not yet.

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