By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters), a member of far-right Proud Boys pleaded guilty to conspiring with Congress and obstructing Congress in certifying President Joe Biden’s win on Jan. 6.

Matthew Greene (34), Syracuse, New York could be facing up to 5 years imprisonment for conspiracy and 20 for obstruction of an official proceeding.

He was the first Proud Boys member to plead guilty to his part in the attack that disrupted a session of Congress to officially certify the victory of Democrat Biden over former President Donald Trump.

For their part in an attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, more than 700 have been held.

Dec. 6: 145 of the defendants had pleaded guilty. However, most of these were much more minor misdemeanors.

About 40 people were charged in connection with conspiracy to either impede Congress, or to protect the Capitol from law enforcement officers.

Greene was an alleged member of the Central New York Proud Boys chapter in December 2020. He was also indicted with Dominic Pezzola (44), and William Pepe (32) of Beacon. The other Proud Boy members he allegedly conspired with pleaded guilty.

Greene, along with the Proud Boys, are accused of moving into restricted areas at the Capitol following the removal of police barricades.

He saw other rioters attack police, but he continued to help others remove more police barricades.

According to the indictment superseding, Greene was later joined by his co-defendants for the invasion of the Capitol.

He said, “I am good, we have taken the capital,” and he sent it to one of his associates via an encrypted messaging app.

He will be sent to prison on March 10th, 2022.