Proud Boys sentencing on Jan. 6 Capitol riot charges postponed after judge calls out sick

Sentencing hearings for Enrique Tarrio and another Proud Boys leader in the Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case were postponed Wednesday after the presiding judge called out sick, federal authorities told NBC News.

The abrupt cancellation of a sentencing hearing for Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right group who face potential decades in prison, was initially chalked up to an unspecified “emergency” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.

But a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told NBC that the sentencing was cancelled because presiding Judge Timothy Kelly was sick. A spokeswoman for the U.S. District Court in D.C. said there was no security emergency at the courthouse, NBC reported.

Tarrio’s sentencing was rescheduled to next Tuesday, Sept. 5, court documents showed later Wednesday morning. Ethan Nordean, a Proud Boys chapter leader who was set to be sentenced Wednesday afternoon, had his hearing rescheduled for Friday.

Tarrio, 39, was set to be sentenced Wednesday morning following his conviction on charges he helped mastermind a seditious conspiracy to disrupt the 2020 presidential election certification on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Justice Department is seeking 33 years in prison for Tarrio — nearly twice as much time behind bars as the longest sentence that has yet come out of the sweeping prosecution of more than 1,100 defendants related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Tarrio and four other defendants in the case played a “central role” in “setting into motion the unlawful events of that day,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said after they were found guilty in May.

Those three other co-defendants — Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — have sentencing hearings scheduled for later in the…