SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One of two Trump supporters behind a plot to firebomb Sacramento’s state Democratic Party headquarters was sentenced to prison Wednesday, but sentencing for the second was delayed after his attorney asked for the courtroom to be closed over concerns for his client’s safety.
Ian Benjamin Rogers, 46, received a nine-year sentence after expressing his remorse for his behavior, which he blamed on a drinking problem that was exacerbated by COVID-19 lockdowns that severely hurt his auto repair business.
“I said a lot of stupid and silly things,” Rogers told Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer as Rogers’ family sat in the first row of the courtroom watching. “I never seriously meant them in any way. ...
“I just want everybody to know how sorry I am.”
Rogers and his co-defendant, Jarrod Copeland, 39, were facing sentencing for their role in a bizarre conspiracy to retaliate against President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Copeland, a tool salesman, Army deserter and steroid user who was arrested at his Sacramento apartment in 2021, and Rogers, a Napa auto mechanic who specialized in Jaguar and Land Rover repairs, were indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2021 on charges of conspiracy to destroy a building, possession of destructive devices and machine guns and obstruction of justice.
The two men were accused of planning an attack on the John L. Burton Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Sacramento as revenge for what they falsely believed was a stolen election.
Court documents say law enforcement seized bombs and dozens of firearms — including machine guns — and that the men hoped the attack would ignite what they called a “movement” they hoped would spur others to action.
But Rogers insisted Wednesday he never meant to carry out any of the actions, and said he regretted possessing three illegal firearms and pipe bombs that were among a cache of weapons at his home.
He said the weapons were for fun and that he fired them only four times, keeping them in a gun safe most of the time along with the bombs.
The bombs, he said, were made “to protect myself and my family from a potential future event,” and added that he did not even know if they would have worked.
Rogers spoke after Breyer heard from California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks, who described the chilling effect the plot has had on party workers and volunteers, and the financial cost the party has borne in upgrading security at its headquarters.
Hicks added that the Democrats have a long history of supporting restorative justice and redemption, and told the judge he did not disagree with the plea bargain worked out that led to the nine-year sentence and a requirement that Rogers undergo alcohol abuse treatment.
Before imposing the sentence, Breyer gave what amounted to a history lesson on the American experiment and lectured Rogers, telling him he has the right to oppose government actions but not to break the law because of his views.
“It is an extraordinary experiment, but when there is the threat of violence our country is in danger of failing that experiment.”
Breyer noted that he earlier had rejected the plea agreement because of questions about whether Rogers was sincerely remorseful, but said that after Rogers was evaluated by a psychiatrist he was convinced many of Rogers’ problems stemmed from drinking.
Rogers agreed, choking up at one point as he apologized to his family, and reflected on the damage he has done to his life.
“The rest of my life I will have to deal with these issues when I try to get a job or people Google my name,” he said, adding, “I was a drunk saying things I didn’t mean. One last time, I’m sorry.”
After Rogers was led away, his co-defendant appeared to face sentencing, and the judge said he intended to go along with a plea deal and sentence Copeland to 54 months in prison.
But proceedings were halted after Copeland attorney John Ambrosio asked the judge to close the courtroom to the public and press because of concerns for his client’s safety.
“No, I’m not going to close the courtroom,” the judge replied, saying the public has a right to see the sentencing.
But he agreed to postpone sentencing until 2 p.m. and said he would start out briefly in a closed session before opening the court.
Before Rogers and Copeland settled on the plot against the Democratic headquarters at 1830 Ninth St., the men considered other targets, including the Governor’s Mansion, offices for Twitter and Facebook and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
“I want to blow up a democrat building bad,” Rogers texted to Copeland in January 2021, shortly before Biden was inaugurated and days after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
No attack ever took place, but federal prosecutors described the plot as a serious threat of political violence that included efforts to recruit members of the extremist Proud Boys group to help form “a force for guerrilla warfare.”
Ambrosio earlier described their plot as merely two friends “letting off steam,” while Rogers’ attorney Colin Cooper blamed his client’s actions on heavy beer drinking and “bloviating” by a man who now knows he made a “colossal mistake.”
Both men accepted plea deals and Rogers had been expected to face sentencing last September until the judge rejected his plea deal because of statements he made to U.S. Probation officials that the judge said showed a lack of remorse.
“I feel very bad for putting myself in a bad situation that allowed the government to destroy my life,” Rogers said, then added, “I accept responsibility for having in my possession illegal weapons and thinking about burning down a building in a drunken state.”
Breyer was having no such talk, declaring in a hearing that Rogers “regrets he was caught.”
“I have to say, in 23 years I’ve never seen that type of statement,” the judge said before refusing to accept the plea deal and ordering a psychiatric exam of Rogers. “I’ve never seen a defendant come in and say I regret I was caught.”
Rogers subsequently wrote a letter to the judge from jail, literally begging for the judge to accept his plea deal so that he has hope of someday being released and returning to his family.
“I made a colossal mistake owning illegal firearms, illegal explosives and communicating via text message with my co-defendant,” he wrote. “At the time, I believed the election was stolen.
“At the time, I believed things said by the Trump administration. At the time, I was in a dark place in my life and I was abusing alcohol and acting out, in part, because of it.
“I was wrong in my thinking.”
The two men were sentenced in Breyer’s 17th-floor courtroom inside the Phillip Burton Federal Building in downtown San Francisco. The building is named for a longtime Democratic congressman who died in 1983.
The Democratic headquarters building in Sacramento that was the target of the attack is named for his brother.
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