WASHINGTON– A lawyer representing the far-right Oath Keepers pleaded guilty on Wednesday in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a mob that included members of the extremist group.

Kellye SoRelle, chief adviser to the anti-government group and a close confidante of its founder, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17 by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC.

SoRelle, 45, of Granbury, Texas, answered routine questions from the judge as she pleaded guilty to two counts: one count of obstruction of justice and one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but her estimated sentencing guidelines call for a maximum of 16 months behind bars.

SoRelle was arrested in Junction, Texas, in September 2022. Her case remained on hold for months due to doubts about her mental health.

Over a year ago, medical experts concluded that SoRelle was mentally incompetent to stand trial. In November 2023, she checked into a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility for treatment. Last month, Mehta ruled that SoRelle had recovered enough to understand the nature of her charges and assist in her defense.

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, is serving an 18-year prison sentence for plotting to keep Donald Trump in the White House after the 2020 presidential election. After Rhodes’ arrest, SoRelle told the media that she would serve as president of the Oath Keepers in his absence.

SoRelle, a former Texas prosecutor, was photographed with Rhodes outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. As the riot broke out, she posted a chat message for other Oath Keepers that said, “We are acting like the Founding Fathers – we cannot back down. Per Stewart, and I agree.”

“Although SoRelle did not personally enter the Capitol on January 6, she was aware of the role that people inside and outside the building – including herself – played in delaying the certification process that had taken place at the Capitol,” a court document accompanying her guilty plea said.

The night before the riots, she and Rhodes met with other members of the extremist group in an underground parking garage in Washington, D.C. The meeting was also attended by former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role in a separate plot aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden after the election.

Rhodes, a former U.S. Army paratrooper, founded the Oath Keepers in 2009. The group recruits current and former military, police and first responders and vows to “fulfill the oath taken by all soldiers and police officers to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

During the trial of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers accused of seditious conspiracy, jurors heard testimony that SoRelle had a romantic relationship with Rhodes.

SoRelle pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for encouraging others to destroy electronic evidence of their involvement in the plot. Two days after the riot, Rhodes and SoRelle sent cellphone messages to the Oath Keepers demanding that they delete all incriminating evidence.

She was indicted on other charges, including conspiring with Rhodes and other Oath Keepers to obstruct Congress in certifying the Electoral College votes, but she pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charge.

Also Wednesday, a judge set a Feb. 3 trial date for an Illinois man accused of firing a gun during the riot. John Banuelos climbed a scaffold outside the Capitol, pulled out his revolver and fired two shots into the air, prosecutors said.

Banuelos, of Summit, Illinois, was arrested in March. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday refused to release Banuelos from custody, ruling that he is a flight risk and poses a danger to the public.

“It could have been much more tragic,” the judge said of the shooting.