A man widely accused by former President Donald Trump’s supporters of covertly working on behalf of the FBI during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation for his actions that day.

Ray Epps, 62, pleaded guilty last fall to one misdemeanor for disorderly conduct in a restricted area.

The Department of Justice had asked that Epps get six months in prison, a relatively harsh sentence for that charge, while Epps argued that probation and restitution were appropriate penalties. He received restitution of $500.

Epps became the face of a prolific unproven allegation that federal government agents were secretly working among the crowd of rioters on Jan. 6 to entrap Trump supporters. Epps, his attorney, and the DOJ have adamantly denied that he ever worked for the government aside from a four-year stint in the U.S. Marines in the 1980s.

Judge James Boasberg sentenced Epps via a Zoom hearing, a scheduling change that occurred Monday evening after the hearing had originally been scheduled to occur in person. The reason for the last-minute change is unclear, and Epps’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Those who have long accused Epps of working as a government source vocally criticized his plea deal with the DOJ, arguing that the single mild charge was too light relative to what other riot participants received and that the department, which filed the deal in September 2023, had taken a suspiciously long time to bring the offense against him.

Following the criticism, prosecutors took a surprisingly firm tone in a sentencing memo they filed last week in which they asked for the hefty prison penalty and contended that Epps engaged in “felonious conduct.”

Prosecutors said they only charged him with a misdemeanor because of factors that were unique to his case.

They pointed to Epps’s attempts to de-escalate the riot and his consistently remorseful demeanor after it. They also said that Epps, whose photo appeared among those of several riot suspects on an FBI wanted poster right after the riot, responded to the FBI by immediately turning himself in on Jan. 8, 2021, and that he had cooperated with the bureau ever since.

Prosecutors said the false accusation that Epps worked as an undercover agent on Jan. 6 “continues to affect him, but also attempts to undermine the integrity of the ongoing and overall federal prosecution.”

Epps’s sentence comes after he was captured on video the evening before the riot encouraging people at a protest to show up on Jan. 6 and “go IN to the Capitol,” heavily emphasizing the word “in.”

Epps’s behavior prompted the protesters, including a prominent right-wing voice on social media named Tim Gionet, also known as “Baked Alaska,” to begin leveling accusations at Epps that he was a “fed” and a government “plant.”

The Jan. 6 committee asked Epps in 2022 about why he urged people to enter the Capitol.

“My vision was get as many people in there as we can and surround it, be there, let them know that we’re not happy with the — with what — what has happened, and that was it. No violence,” Epps testified.

Video from Jan. 6 showed Epps crossed into a restricted area and briefly helped carry a heavy metal-framed sign. However, Epps was also captured on video several times during the riot attempting to prevent clashes between rioters and police.

He never entered the Capitol, caused any property damage or injury, and left the scene as rioters were breaking in.

Probation has been a common sentence for Jan. 6 defendants who were convicted of the same charge as Epps.

When Epps’s attorney asked the judge for a sentence of probation, the attorney emphasized that Epps had been “punished enough” with frequent harassment.

He said Epps has received not just verbal death threats but in-person threats, including people showing up at his property and leaving ammunition casings on it.

The attorney said Epps and his wife left their longtime home in Arizona and moved into the woods of another state because they feared for their lives.

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Prominent voices on the Right have elevated the speculation that Epps was working for the government on Jan. 6, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Epps has filed a lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that the outlet, and Carlson in particular, defamed him. Fox News responded by asking a judge to dismiss the case.