The judge overseeing the case of a convicted far-right militia leader warned that the prospect of a possible pardon “is frightening and should frighten anyone who cares about democracy in this country.”

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right, anti-government military group Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of seditious conspiracy for orchestrating an attack that culminated in a violent attempt to overturn Donald Trump’s election defeat to undo.

Donald Trump has vowed to pardon “most” of the rioters charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

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District Judge Ahmit Meta, speaking Wednesday during a sentencing hearing for another Oath Keepers member, presided over a two-month trial in Washington, D.C., in which several Oath Keepers members were charged with treason.

Rhodes and Oath Keepers member Kelly Meggs were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May 2023 after jurors deliberated for three full days. Three other Oath Keepers employees were charged in the case but were found not guilty of the main charge.

Jurors were asked to consider whether the Oath Keepers were not only motivated by Trump’s baseless narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from him, but also planned to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power during a joint session of Congress.

Rhodes and his allies spent weeks discussing a violent response to the 2020 election via encrypted messaging apps, then organized a weapons and supply cache at a nearby hotel before joining the mob that broke through the doors and windows of the Capitol to protest Storming the halls of Congress and blocking the confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidency, according to evidence presented in court.

Rhodes entered the restricted Capitol grounds that day but did not enter the building. Prosecutors did not allege that the group planned to break into the Capitol, but rather that it conspired to commit treason against the federal government.

Seditious conspiracy “is among the most serious crimes a single American can commit” and is an “offense against the people of the country,” Mehta said last year.

“What we can’t have, what we absolutely can’t have, is a group of citizens who, because they didn’t like the outcome, were prepared to take up arms to start a revolution.” That’s what you did,” he said to Rhodes. “You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes.”

For decades, Rhodes wanted American democracy to “turn violent,” Mehta said during his confirmation hearing.

“You, sir, represent a constant threat and danger to this country, its democracy and the fabric of this country,” he added. “You are smart, persuasive and charismatic. Honestly, that’s what makes you dangerous.”

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During his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly promised mass pardons for the January 6 defendants, whom he described as “hostages” and “patriots.”

He said the pardons would begin “in the first hour” of his presidency.

“Maybe the first nine minutes,” he said TIME.

“I will look at it on a case-by-case basis, and if they were nonviolent, I think they were severely punished,” he said. “And the answer is that I will, yes, I will look to see if there are some that are really out of control.”

Mehta isn’t the only judge preparing for Trump’s upcoming pardon. Trump-appointed District Judge Carl Nichols said during a hearing last month that blanket pardons would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing.”

More than 1,500 people have been charged federally in connection with the attack. At least ten people were found guilty of the seditious conspiracy, including members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys gang. Nearly 200 people have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against an officer.

Nearly 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty in connection with the Jan. 6 charges, including more than 300 people accused of felonies. More than 600 people were sentenced to prison.