A January 6 defendant on Friday taunted a federal judge’s decision to send him immediately to prison for one year for his role in the US Capitol riot, shouting as he was being handcuffed that President-elect Donald Trump would pardon him.
The rioter, Philip Sean Grillo of New York City, announced after his sentencing, “Trump’s gonna pardon me anyways,” as a US marshal had him remove his belt and tie before handcuffing him inside the courtroom.
Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the DC District Court spoke about the judiciary’s role in bringing justice to hundreds of Capitol rioters who have faced criminal charges over the past four years. On Trump’s pledge to pardon them, Lamberth said he “has nothing to say about that decision.”
“I will do my job as I’m bound by oath to do, and the president will do his. It’s as simple as that,” the judge told the courtroom. He added that the delivery of justice was worth the effort, “no matter the political winds of the day.”
It is exceedingly rare for a judge to order a criminal defendant who is a nonviolent offender like Grillo to be taken into custody immediately at his sentencing. Lamberth’s courtroom on Friday provided an astonishing glimpse into the state of the January 6 prosecutions, as federal judges continue to sentence defendants even as Trump has promised to free them when he returns to the White House.
Lamberth gave little explanation for his reasoning for the immediate remand, remarking only he was ordering it because of “where we are in the process.”
“It falls to this court to hold him accountable. So now, bound by my oath of office and my allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, that is what I will do,” Lamberth said before delivering the sentence.
The court record shows Grillo had been drinking on January 6, 2021, spent significant time inside the Capitol building, and is on video yelling “charge” into a megaphone among the mob. He had expressed little remorse in court for his actions until Friday, when he told the judge he didn’t recognize the person on video four years ago.
Lamberth sentenced him to a year of supervised release following a year in prison. Grillo’s crimes, which a jury found him guilty of at trial, included entering a restricted federal building and behaving with disruptive conduct on the restricted grounds of the Capitol.
“I’m mortified,” Grillo told the judge during his sentencing. “I wish I never went.”
The judge spent 30 minutes at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing excoriating how Capitol rioters, their supporters and Trump himself have downplayed the violence of that day in 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters overran the Capitol. Lamberth also spoke extensively about his role as a federal judge to facilitate the discovery of facts, apply the law and carry out justice.
“They invaded the very nerve center of our republic during the performance of one of its most important functions: certifying the results of the presidential election,” Lamberth said. “Even nonviolent defendants merit punishment.”
Grillo’s defense attorney asked Lamberth to give Grillo a day to turn himself in voluntarily, and Lamberth said no.
Two friends of Grillo in the courtroom, who said they were Republican Party leaders in the Bronx and Queens, New York, loudly remarked after the sentencing that they were in touch with Trump’s transition team about the promised pardons, and that Grillo would be pardoned.
“Don’t worry, Phil,” one of the friends shouted immediately after Lamberth left the courtroom. The man declined to say who on Trump’s team he had spoken with.
