Arizona man sentenced in Jan. 6 riot remaining in prison during appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AZFamily) — Edward Vallejo, a Phoenix man who is serving three years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, lost an effort to get released pending an appeal in his case.

Vallejo oversaw a “Quick Reaction Force” at a Virginia hotel that was prepared to deploy an arsenal of weapons into Washington if needed, authorities say.

He was convicted in January of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge the Justice Department has brought in the Jan. 6 attack, and several other charges.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Vallejo that he can’t conspire to “undo” the results of an election just because he and his cohorts believed the process failed them.

Vallejo’s sentence began in August 2023. He filed an appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 that the “obstructing an official proceeding” charge must include that the defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents.

However, Vallejo is not only convicted on an obstruction charge but he is also convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.

The judge in the District of Columbia found that Vallejo “has not raised a substantial question of law” and that if the appeal is favorable to Vallejo, it is unlikely to result in a reduced sentence less than the time already served, plus the length of the appeal process.

“Defendant is undoubtedly correct that the appellate process will be long, but he has not convinced the court that his sentence is likely to be substantially shortened, if at all,” the judge wrote.

When weighing sentencing factors for Oath Keeper defendants, the judge noted their role in Jan. 6 and its planning, noting that “organizers, planners and those who used force received stiffer sentences. Those who were largely followers and did not use force received lesser sentences.”

The court found that Vallejo was “neither a leader nor organizer but more culpable than others because he served as the QRF [Quick Reaction Force] and was prepared to bring weapons to the Capitol if Stuart Rhodes [leader of the group] had ordered him to do so.”

Judge Mehta said a sentence reduction is “far from assured.”

Vallejo’s appeal has not been heard before the D.C. Circuit.

He is currently listed at a low-security prison in Beaumont, Texas, and his release date is July 2025.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Do you have a story you want us to investigate? Tell us about it by contacting us.