A Texas woman, who once worked as a lawyer for the extremist group known as the Oath Keepers, is heading to federal prison for her role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and her actions afterward.
Kellye SoRelle, a 46-year-old attorney, was sentenced to 12 months in prison on Friday. She pleaded guilty in August to obstructing justice and trespassing—both tied to the violent storming of the Capitol, where supporters of then-President Donald Trump tried to stop Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election.
Prosecutors explained that SoRelle joined Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes on restricted Capitol grounds at about 2:12 p.m., just as rioters breached the building. While there, she livestreamed videos on Facebook, cheering on the chaos and calling it one of the “coolest” things she’d ever seen. She claimed the attack was necessary to stop the U.S. from becoming a communist nation.
Earlier that day, around 1:30 p.m., SoRelle had messaged an Oath Keepers group, saying, “We are acting like the founding fathers—can’t stand down,” referencing Rhodes’ views and adding her agreement.
During her sentencing, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta didn’t hold back in describing the seriousness of her actions. He told SoRelle that her efforts to hide evidence and encourage others to do the same were “among the most serious conduct Americans can engage in.” He reminded her that, as a lawyer, her support of violent rhetoric carried even more weight because people listened to her.
The judge emphasized how her actions had far-reaching consequences. “There are people sitting in jail today because of that,” he said.
Rhodes, with whom SoRelle was romantically involved at the time, was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November 2022. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison—the harshest penalty handed out to anyone involved in the January 6 riot.
After the Capitol attack, SoRelle and Rhodes joined other Oath Keepers for a dinner to celebrate. However, the dinner was interrupted when they heard law enforcement was looking for people connected to the riot. They quickly left the restaurant, gathered their belongings from a nearby hotel, and regrouped at a gas station.
At that point, Rhodes shut off his phone to avoid being tracked and handed it to SoRelle. She used her own phone to send messages on his behalf through the app Signal, urging group members to delete any evidence of their involvement in the riot.
“Please delete any information you’ve posted regarding the DC op and your involvement,” she wrote to members of the group, promising to delete the chat thread when possible. Prosecutors said Oath Keepers followed her instructions, deleting messages, photos, and videos that could have been used as evidence.
In addition to her prison sentence, SoRelle will spend three years on supervised release and must pay $2,000 to help cover the $2.8 million in damages caused during the Capitol attack. Her sentence was closer to what prosecutors requested—16 months in prison—than to her own request for probation and time served.
SoRelle’s legal troubles began after her September 2022 arrest. At one point, she was deemed mentally unfit for trial but was later found competent in February 2024.
This case is another reminder of the lasting consequences of the January 6 Capitol attack, both for the rioters and for the nation as a whole.
