(WASHINGTON) -- A day after the Justice Department withdrew a sentencing memo that described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as being carried out by "thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters," the convicted Jan. 6 participant accused in the case was sentenced Thursday to time served.
Taylor Taranto was sentenced Thursday for his illegal weapons and threats conviction stemming from his June 2023 arrest near the home of former President Barack Obama, after Taranto was pardoned by President Donald Trump over his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Federal prosecutors Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White were informed Wednesday that they would be put on leave after filing the sentencing memo, which said that "On January 6, 2021, thousands of people comprising a mob of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol while a joint session of Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election" and that "Taranto was accused of participating in the riot in Washington, D.C., by entering the U.S. Capitol Building."
The memo also detailed how Taranto traveled to former President Obama's home only after a Truth Social post from then-former President Trump that included Obama's address.
Late Wednesday, the Justice Department, in a highly unusual move, withdraw the original sentencing memo and replaced it with one in which the references to Jan. 6 and Trump's Truth social account were eliminated.
It's unclear if Valdivia or White were given a reason for their suspensions, though the move followed months of turmoil in the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney's office where multiple career prosecutors faced removals or demotions related to their involvement in prosecuting the more than 1,500 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
Valdivia and White, who were suspended from the Taranto case, were in attendance in the audience of the hearing but declined to comment to reporters afterward.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, did not directly address Valdivia and White's suspensions but heaped praise on them for doing an "excellent job" on Taranto's case and said that, in his experience, they were among the "highest level" of prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office.
Two other career prosecutors, Jonathan Hornok and Travis Wolf, presided over the roughly hour-long sentencing hearing just one day after being added to the case.
Judge Nichols did not delve into the government's decision to submit a revised sentencing memo, telling Hornok and Wolf he was "not entirely clear" why they moved to seal the initial sentencing memo submitted by Valdivia and White. The judge said he intended to unseal it for the public record.
In total, Taranto already served 22 months in pretrial detention following his 2023 arrest, and got credit for good behavior, which led Judge Nichols to say the sentence he had already served was acceptable even given the seriousness of his crimes.
The government had sought a sentence of 27 months in prison, but Nichols noted that -- even if he were to hand down such a sentence -- the credit that Taranto would have already received for his time in pretrial detention could have meant he would serve only an additional "few days."
Judge Nichols, who has described the Jan. 6 attack in serious terms, said following Trump's reelection in November that it would be "beyond frustrating and disappointing" if Trump were to pardon Jan. 6 defendants.
Trump subsequently granted sweeping pardons and commutations to all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office.