DOJ seeks 14-year prison sentence for Jan. 6 rioter who pleaded guilty to using Taser on police officer

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to seek a 14-year prison sentence for a Jan 6. defendant who pleaded guilty to using a Taser on former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone during the insurrection. 

According to a sentencing memorandum filed last week, federal prosecutors argued that Daniel Rodriguez’s actions on that day add up to domestic terrorism, referring to him as “one of the most violent defendants” on Jan 6. 

Rodriguez, a Fontana, Calif., resident, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of justice and assaulting a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon as part of his plea deal. 

Rodriguez also admitted to assaulting Fanone during the insurrection. He used a taser on the Fanone twice in the back of his neck as Fanone was then dragged into the crowd by other rioters. 

Fanone, who currently serves as a law enforcement analyst for CNN, suffered a minor heart attack and a traumatic brain injury in the attack, resulting in his resignation from the police force. 

Federal prosecutors said Rodriguez was part of a Telegram group chat created in 2020 called “Patriots 45 MAGA Gang.” Group members used the platform to coordinate their activities before, during and after the riot, which includes stockpiling weapons and tactical gear to bring to Washington, D.C. 

Rodriguez, 40, also conspired “to stop, delay, and hinder Congress’s Certification of the Electoral College Vote as well as to prevent evidence from being used in the investigation of his and his co-conspirators’ activities,” court documents said. 

Along with the 14-year prison sentence, prosecutors also requested Rodriguez to serve 36 months’ supervised release and pay nearly $99,000 in restitution, the sentencing memo reads. 

“The reason for this violent rhetoric and extensive planning was also clear: Rodriguez believed the 2020 Presidential election had been stolen, and those responsible should be in prison or dead,” prosecutors wrote in their memo. “And this mistaken belief gave him the authority, in his mind, to plan an assault on anyone who stood in his way.” 

In response, Rodriguez’s legal team argued in their memo that their client should serve a sentence of 65 months in prison, saying that Rodriguez, who grew up without a father and is a high school dropout, idolized former President Trump.

“He saw the former president as the father he wished he had,” Rodriguez’s legal team wrote in their memo. “He believed Trump was someone to be admired: a multimillionaire who graduated from Wharton Business School, with his name massively displayed in gold on buildings across the United States.”

Rodriguez’s legal team also said Trump was responsible for their client and other rioters’ actions during the insurrection, noting that the former president “doubled down on his lies and falsely declared that he had won.” 

Rodriguez’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday.