A prolific police and military impersonator from Dallas who threatened to hunt down Democrats and other “traitors” following the U.S. Capitol insurrection was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison.
Troy Smocks, 58, became the first local defendant to be sentenced in the historic case. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued the sentence in a Washington, D.C., federal court.
Smocks claimed he never entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 mob riot, but he went on social media to call for an armed return to D.C. to hunt down Democrats and other “traitors,” for which he pleaded guilty.
Almost 20 other North Texas men and women have been charged in connection with the storming and ransacking of the Capitol building following a Donald Trump rally. Some are accused of hurling dangerous items at police and fighting officers who were trying to keep them out of the Capitol building.
At least one other local resident has also pleaded guilty in connection with the storming of the Capitol. Jennifer Ryan, who is awaiting sentencing, is one of a trio of North Texas real estate professionals who flew to Washington on a private jet.
Another alleged rioter, Robert Wayne Dennis, was arrested on Wednesday and accused of assaulting police who were trying to control the mob outside the Capitol building. He has not yet had a court appearance, according to court records.
More than 600 people have been arrested nationwide for their part in the riot. Prosecutors have said video cameras recorded about 1,000 assaults of police officers during the mob siege. And they said the investigation and prosecution of the Capitol breach case will end up being the largest in U.S. history – for total defendants and evidence involved.
“The attack on the Capitol on January 6 was the first time the Capitol had been breached since 1812, and the first time it was breached in a non-military conflict,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler in a court filing in a local defendant’s case.
‘Prepare our weapons’
Smocks, a convicted fraudster who worked as a hired driver, was arrested in January and has been held in custody ever since a judge concluded that he posed a threat for inciting violence.
He pleaded guilty in late September to making threats and was placed on a “No-Fly” list due to his actions, court records show.
Smocks’ attorney has asked a Washington, D.C., judge to issue an order removing his client from that list, which prevents people from traveling on commercial airlines, because it has caused him “unnecessary trouble.”
Smocks had faced up to five years in prison, but under the terms of his plea deal, the government agreed that he should be sentenced to prison for between eight to 16 months.
Smocks traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, the day before the deadly riot at the Capitol.
An FBI agent testified earlier this year that Smocks told him he attended Trump’s speech and then walked to the Capitol with the crowd and watched the chaos from nearby. He said he did so “at the invitation of the president of the United States,” the agent said.
His attorney, John Machado, said in a court filing that his client “did not participate in the riots in any way, and did not even go onto the U.S. Capitol grounds.”
Smocks’ social media posts, in which he claimed to be a retired military officer, included the following statements:
“And today President Trump told… to ‘fight like hell.’ He said that Our cause was a matter of national security, and that these people behind the massive fraud must be arrested and brought to justice. And that task, falls on the shoulders of We The People… the American Patriots.”
“Many of us will return on January 19, 2021, carrying Our weapons, in support of Our nation’s resolve, to which the world will never forget!!! We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match.”
“Prepare Our Weapons, and then go hunting. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are. This includes, RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs. We now have the green light.”
His posts were viewed tens of thousands of times, police said.
Videos on Smocks’ YouTube channel — posted under the name Colonel T. Perez — also promoted conflict, challenging veterans to carry their firearms to protests and to taunt others who don’t intend to fire their weapons, authorities said.
Although he never served in the military, Smocks has a history of posing as an Army officer and federal agent over the past two decades, even donning a full dress uniform with medals he didn’t earn, according to federal court records.
His criminal history includes about 18 convictions dating back to the early 1980s, according to federal court records.
A search of Smocks’ apartment turned up numerous fraudulent documents including a pilot’s license in his name and fake military identification documents. Smocks had claimed to be a lieutenant colonel in the Army with 30 years of service on his apartment lease application, the FBI said, and he told people he worked as a commercial pilot.
Police also found a laminating machine in his apartment, as well as blank access cards and a stun gun, according to testimony.
Smocks also believed the U.S. was at war with China, the FBI said.
In a YouTube video he posted in 2020, he “appeared in military-style clothing” and urged veterans to engage in armed protest, prosecutors said. He also posted inflammatory messages on social media in the months leading up to the insurrection, court records say.
Those statements from November 2020 include the following:
“The time has come to ready ourselves for an offensive stance against the Democratic Antifa Army… Only the brute force of the men and women of this national can defeat this enemy who has envaded (sic) ours country.”
“There is roughly 800,000 federal agents, and less than 250 Traitor Democrat members in D.C….There are over 70 million of Us. We can take them!!!”
Machado said his client recently married and has had different jobs including “owner of a biohazard company” and “online currency trader.” He said his client has learned his lesson.
“Mr. Smocks has no intention of duplicating this illegal conduct in any way,” he said in court filings. “Accordingly, the public will be safe from any acts on his part, as he has no intention of using social media the way he had done in the past.”
Also on Thursday, a McKinney man accused of storming the Capitol became the second local defendant to plead guilty in the case.
Kevin Sam Blakely, 55, was captured in video footage standing inside and outside of the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 uprising, according to the FBI.
Blakely, who has run a vehicle repair company, pleaded guilty to demonstrating in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of six months behind bars. He agreed to pay $500 in restitution as part of the plea deal. In total, the Capitol sustained $1.5 million in damages, authorities said. A sentencing date has been scheduled for March 2022.
