By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A former&nbsp;leader&nbsp;of the right-wing&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys&nbsp;group,&nbsp;Enrique&nbsp;Tarrio, was sentenced to&nbsp;22&nbsp;years&nbsp;in prison on Tuesday for his role in the&nbsp;Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the longest sentence so far in the&nbsp;case.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly imposed the sentence on&nbsp;Tarrio, 39, of Miami, for his role in the riot by then-President Donald Trump's supporters. His lawyers said he would appeal.
Tarrio&nbsp;had been convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the Capitol riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's defeat of Trump in an election Trump falsely claimed was tainted by widespread fraud.
Tarrio's lawyers said his absence from Washington on&nbsp;Jan. 6, the result of another judge's earlier order, meant that he had no "direct influence" on the riot.
But in imposing the sentence, the judge said: "Mr.&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;was the ultimate&nbsp;leader&nbsp;of that conspiracy. Mr.&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;was the ultimate&nbsp;leader, the ultimate person who organized, who was motivated by revolutionary zeal."
Prosecutors said&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;had remained in touch with the&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys&nbsp;group and monitored their actions.
"He was on a tier of his own," Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe said, adding&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;was a uniquely influential figure among the&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys.
Prosecutors had asked Kelly to sentence&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;to 33&nbsp;years&nbsp;behind bars, saying he helped direct the attack from Baltimore. His attorneys had asked for no more than 15&nbsp;years.
Kelly last week sentenced another far-right&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys&nbsp;leader, Ethan Nordean, to 18&nbsp;years. Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes in May was also sentenced to 18&nbsp;years.
In court on Tuesday,&nbsp;Tarrio&nbsp;said he was sorry for his actions. "I am&nbsp;extremely ashamed and disappointed," he said about violence against law enforcement on that day, adding: "What happened on&nbsp;Jan. 6 was a national embarrassment."
More than 1,100 people have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol assault. At least 630 have pleaded guilty and at least 110 have been convicted at trial.
Five people, including a police officer, died during or shortly after the riot, and more than 140 police officers were injured. Damage to the Capitol was in the millions of dollars.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was tapped to investigate broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election, has charged Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, for trying to keep himself in power.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller)

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Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio gets 22 years in Jan 6 case