Kellye SoRelle, the former general counsel for the Oath Keepers, has been sentenced to 12 months in federal prison for her involvement in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. SoRelle, 46, pleaded guilty in August to felony obstruction of justice and misdemeanor trespassing. The charges stemmed from her actions during and after the insurrection, in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in an effort to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
On the afternoon of January 6, SoRelle entered restricted Capitol grounds around 2:12 p.m., just as the initial breach of the building was underway. She live-streamed the chaotic scene on Facebook, expressing support for the rioters and framing the violence as a necessary action to protect the country from communism and tyranny. SoRelle described the scene as one of the “coolest damn things” she had ever witnessed, continuing to document the events as she moved through the Capitol with Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, and other affiliates of the group.
Prior to entering the Capitol grounds, SoRelle had sent a message to an Oath Keepers group, stating, “We are acting like the founding fathers can’t stand down. Per Stewart, and I concur.” Her involvement in the riot was not limited to the physical actions on January 6. After the violence subsided, she and Rhodes participated in a celebratory dinner with other Oath Keepers members. However, the gathering was abruptly interrupted when the group learned that law enforcement was either arresting or searching for individuals involved in the attack.
In an attempt to avoid detection, Rhodes turned off his cellphone and gave it to SoRelle, who then used her own phone to send messages on his behalf. She instructed Oath Keepers members to delete any evidence of their involvement in the Capitol attack. “Please delete any information you’ve posted regarding the DC op and your involvement,” SoRelle wrote, urging others to erase messages, photographs, and videos from their devices that could serve as evidence. The group complied with her instructions, scrubbing their phones of incriminating material.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who had previously presided over Rhodes’ trial, addressed SoRelle’s actions during her sentencing, emphasizing the severity of her conduct. He noted that her role in encouraging others to cover up evidence of the insurrection was among the most serious offenses an American could commit. “What you were trying to cover up, and what you were encouraging others to cover up, is among the most serious conduct Americans can engage in,” Judge Mehta stated. He also remarked that SoRelle’s status as a lawyer and her use of that position to support Rhodes’ violent rhetoric made her actions particularly egregious. “People listened,” Mehta added, highlighting the widespread impact of her behavior.
In addition to her prison sentence, SoRelle was ordered to serve 36 months of supervised release and pay $2,000 in restitution toward the estimated $2.8 million in damage and losses to the Capitol. Her sentence was closer to the government’s recommendation of 16 months than her own request for time served plus probation. SoRelle had initially faced charges of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding, though the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the latter charge was wrongly applied to certain January 6 rioters.
SoRelle had been deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial in 2023 but was later restored to competency in early 2024. Her sentencing marks another chapter in the ongoing legal consequences for those involved in the January 6 insurrection.
