The Proud Boys leader, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the Jan. 6 conviction, is asking Trump for a pardon

WASHINGTON – Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader who is serving 22 years in federal prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is asking President-elect Donald Trump for a pardon Presidents.

Nayib Hassan, Tarrio’s lawyer, wrote a letter to Trump on the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, calling for a “full and complete presidential pardon” from Trump, who has vowed to pardon some rioters after he died on Jan. 20 took office.

In the letter, Hassan described Tarrio, 42, as a “young man with an ambitious future” who was “portrayed throughout the government’s case as a right-wing extremist promoting a neo-fascist militant organization,” as Hassan claimed Tarrio was “nothing more than a proud American who believes in true conservative values.”

Tarrio was one of four members of the far-right Proud Boys group who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May 2023. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest term ever, on January 6, despite not being in Washington for the attack itself. He had been arrested and ordered to stay away from the capital and was convicted of planning and organizing the attack on the Capitol by Proud Boys members in the run-up to January 6th.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said after the verdict that Tarrio and his fellow Proud Boys played a “central role” in leading the mob to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6.

At Tarrio’s trial, Hassan had blamed Trump for the actions of his client and other Proud Boys, reminding jurors that Trump said his followers should “fight like hell” or they would “no longer have a country.” He also argued that Trump’s call for the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” at a 2020 presidential debate gave the group so much attention that it “became difficult to verify.”

Tarrio was arrested in connection with another event — the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020 — shortly before the Jan. 6 attack. The Washington, D.C. Police Department’s top intelligence officer was convicted two weeks ago of passing information to Tarrio by telling him shortly before January 6, 2021 that there was a warrant for his arrest in Washington.

As a result, Tarrio watched Jan. 6 unfold from a “hotel in Baltimore,” as Hassan said at trial.

More than 1,580 defendants have been charged and 1,270 convicted in connection with the January 6 attack. Trump has not given specifics about how many or which categories of defendants he plans to pardon. In an interview last month on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” he did not rule out pardoning rioters who attacked police officers.

Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tarrio’s pardon request.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com