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WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A retired police officer was sentenced on Friday to serve 18 months behind bars for lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the Proud Boys extremist group’s former top leader, who was under investigation for burning a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation’s capital.

Shane Lamond was a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., when he fed information about its banner burning investigation to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio.

Last December, after a trial without a jury, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., convicted Lamond of one count of obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements.

Tarrio attended Lamond’s sentencing and later called for Trump to pardon Lamond.

鈥淚 ask that the Justice Department and the President of the United States step in and correct the injustice that I just witnessed inside this courtroom,” Tarrio said outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Prosecutors recommended a four-year prison sentence for Lamond.

鈥淏ecause Lamond knew what he did was wrong, he lied to cover it up 鈥� not just to the Federal Agents who questioned his actions, but to this Court,” . “This is an egregious obstruction of justice and a betrayal of the work of his colleagues at MPD.鈥�

Lamond’s lawyers argued that a prison sentence isn’t warranted.

“Mr. Lamond gained nothing from his communications with Mr. Tarrio and only sought, albeit in a sloppy and ineffective way, to gain information and intelligence that would help stop the violent protesters coming to D.C. in late 2020, early 2021,” .

Tarrio pleaded guilty to burning the banner stolen from a historic Black church in downtown Washington in December 2020. He was arrested two days before dozens of Proud Boys members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio wasn’t at the Capitol that day, but a jury convicted him of orchestrating a violent plot to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election.

Lamond testified at his bench trial that he never provided Tarrio with sensitive police information. Tarrio, who testified as a witness for Lamond鈥檚 defense, said he did not confess to Lamond about burning the banner and did not receive any confidential information from him.

But the judge did not find either man鈥檚 testimony to be credible. Jackson said the evidence indicated that Lamond was not using Tarrio as a source after the Dec. 12, 2020, banner burning.

鈥淚t was the other way around,鈥� she said.

Lamond, of Colonial Beach, Virginia, retired in May 2023 after 23 years of service to the police department.

Lamond, who met Tarrio in 2019, had supervised the intelligence branch of the police department鈥檚 Homeland Security Bureau. He was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington.

Prosecutors said Lamond tipped off Tarrio that a warrant for his arrest had been signed. They pointed to messages that suggest Lamond provided Tarrio with real-time updates on the police investigation.

Lamond鈥檚 indictment says he and Tarrio exchanged messages about the Jan. 6 riot and discussed whether Proud Boys members were in danger of being charged in the attack.

鈥淥f course I can鈥檛 say it officially, but personally I support you all and don鈥檛 want to see your group鈥檚 name and reputation dragged through the mud,鈥� Lamond wrote.

Lamond said he was upset that a prosecutor labeled him as a Proud Boys 鈥渟ympathizer鈥� who acted as a 鈥渄ouble agent鈥� for the group after Tarrio burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 support the Proud Boys, and I鈥檓 not a Proud Boys sympathizer,鈥� Lamond testified.

Lamond said he considered Tarrio to be a source, not a friend. But he said he tried to build a friendly rapport with the group leader to gain his trust.

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