Prosecutors seek 8-year prison term for ex-Rocky Mount police officer in Capitol riot

Thomas “T.J.” Robertson, who was convicted by a jury in Washington D.C.’s federal court in April, is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday.

“Instead of using his training and power to promote the public good, he attempted to overthrow the government,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Aloi and Risa Berkower wrote in sentencing memorandum filed late Thursday.

“Despite having held himself out as a public servant and a patriot, the defendant has demonstrated again and again that he believes himself to be fully above the law,” they said of Robertson, who was off-duty at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

If U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper follows the government’s recommendation, the sentence would be the longest so far among the hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

A Texas man was recently sentenced to seven years and three months. That was two years more than the previously longest term imposed in an investigation that has led to more than 800 people from across the country being charged with participating in the riots, which were described by Aloi and Berkower as “a grave danger to our democracy.”

However, the seven years and three months in prison for Guy Reffitt was less less than half the length of the 15-year prison term requested by federal prosecutors in that case.

Last week, Robertson wrote a letter to Cooper in which he said his “shameful” actions were the result of stress, drinking and being exposed to large amounts of news and social media reports of claims by former President Donald Trump of a “stolen election.”

Immediately before the Capitol was stormed, Robertson had attended a rally in which Trump urged a large crowd of supporters to “fight like hell.”

Defense attorneys have asked for a 15-month term for Robertson, who has been held without bond for the last 13 months.