A federal judge has sentenced a former intelligence officer in the Washington police force to 18 months in prison for obstructing justice and lying to investigators about his relationship with Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, the far-right group.
The officer, Lt. Shane Lamond, was found guilty in December of illegally leaking details to Mr. Tarrio about an investigation into his burning of a Black Lives Matter banner during a protest in Washington. The federal judge, Amy Berman Jackson, said that Mr. Lamond, who cultivated a close relationship with Mr. Tarrio in the months leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, had undermined his police department colleagues with “entirely unauthorized” back channeling with Mr. Tarrio.
A lawyer for Mr. Lamond, Mark Schamel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Lamond’s lawyers argued during the trial that he had reached out to Mr. Tarrio to gather information, and that his updates about the status of police and F.B.I. investigations into the activities of the Proud Boys were intended to build rapport. In a pre-sentencing memo from April, they asked for probation instead of a prison sentence.
“Mr. Lamond’s police intel work certainly strayed from the ideal,” his lawyers said. “But he did not impede the investigation in any way, and was the most significant source of information used to successfully prosecute Mr. Tarrio.” They added that he had sought to gain only intelligence that could help stop protesters from coming to Washington after the 2020 election. In requesting probation for Mr. Lamond, they also cited health problems, including with his spine.
Prosecutors had argued for a sentence of four years. They said Mr. Lamond had “used his access and power in pursuit of his own personal agenda,” and lied repeatedly about his relationship with Mr. Tarrio.
The prosecutors accused Mr. Lamond of undermining the police investigation and lying to agents about the nature of their relationship. They pointed to private messages between the two men in which Mr. Lamond had appeared to warn Mr. Tarrio of impending arrests. “Of course I can’t say it officially,” he wrote in one message, “but personally I support you all and don’t want to see your group’s name or reputation dragged through the mud.”
In a memo before the sentencing, prosecutors wrote: “Despite being a sworn member of law enforcement, Lamond’s reaction was to cover up the facts and protect himself at the expense of his fellow officers and the public.”
Ultimately, Mr. Lamond was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in prison for one count of obstruction of justice and six months each for three counts of making false statements, with the sentences to be served concurrently, according to records from the Federal District Court in Washington.
Mr. Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy in 2023 for helping plan the assault on the Capitol. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the largest penalty imposed on any of the rioters. On President Trump’s first day back in office in January, Mr. Trump gave Mr. Tarrio a full pardon and granted clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the riot.
Mr. Tarrio, who was at the sentencing on Friday, called on the president and the Justice Department to “step in and correct the injustice that I just witnessed,” according to reporters who were outside the courtroom.
Also on Friday, Mr. Tarrio said that members of the Proud Boys who had been convicted of charges in relation to the riot had brought a $100 million lawsuit against the government.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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