By Makini Brice and Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A&nbsp;leader&nbsp;of the far-right&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys&nbsp;was sentenced on Friday to&nbsp;18&nbsp;years&nbsp;in&nbsp;prison&nbsp;over the U.S.&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;attack, equaling the&nbsp;longest&nbsp;punishment in the case so far, while another member sentenced to 10&nbsp;years&nbsp;yelled "Trump won" as he left court.
The pair were the latest members of far-right groups sentenced for taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Congress, an attempt to overturn Donald Trump's election defeat.
The&nbsp;18-year sentence for Ethan Nordean, a&nbsp;leader&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys&nbsp;convicted of seditious&nbsp;conspiracy, fell short of the 27&nbsp;years&nbsp;prosecutors had sought and tied the sentence handed down to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes in May.
"If we don't have a peaceful transfer of power in this country, we don't have anything," said U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly.
In a statement to the judge, Nordean called Jan. 6 a "complete and utter tragedy" and said he had gone to the&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;to be a&nbsp;leader&nbsp;and to keep people out of trouble. His wife and sister pleaded for mercy.
Nordean's attorney, Nick Smith, had argued for a sentence of 15 to 21 months.
Dominic Pezzola, a member of the&nbsp;Proud&nbsp;Boys, did not play a&nbsp;leadership role but was convicted of felonies including obstructing an official proceeding and assaulting police. He yelled, "Trump won!" as he left the courtroom after being sentenced to 10&nbsp;years&nbsp;in&nbsp;prison.
Prosecutors said Pezzola's assault on former&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;Police Officer Mark Ode, in which he stole Ode's riot shield and&nbsp;used it to smash at a window at the&nbsp;Capitol, helped to justify a lengthy&nbsp;prison&nbsp;term.
Pezzola's attorneys had asked for their client to be sentenced to around five&nbsp;years&nbsp;in&nbsp;prison. Steven Metcalf, one of Pezzola's attorneys, told the judge that Pezzola was caught in the "heat of the moment."
"I stand before you with a heart full of regret," Pezzola said in an emotional speech to the court before his outburst. "I never should've crossed the barrier at the&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;that day."
Prosecutors had sought a 20-year&nbsp;prison&nbsp;term for Pezzola.
Thousands of Trump supporters&nbsp;attacked the&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;following a speech in which the Republican then-president falsely claimed that his November 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread fraud. Trump has continued to make those false claims even as he leads the Republican race for the 2024 nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden.
Five people including a police officer died during or shortly after the riot and more than 140 police officers were injured. The&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;suffered millions of dollars in damage.
More than 1,100 people have been arrested on charges related to the&nbsp;Capitol&nbsp;assault. Of those, more than 630 have pleaded guilty and at least 110 have been convicted at trial.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice in Washington; editing by Scott Malone, Grant McCool, Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)

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US Capitol attack: Proud Boys leader gets 18 years in prison, matching longest