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Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to
impose a longer 51-month sentence on Jacob Chansley, who pleaded
guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding when
he and thousands of others stormed the building to try to stop
Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election.
The sentence matches one Lamberth imposed on a former mixed
martial artist filmed punching a police officer during violence,
who was sentenced last week to 41 months in prison. The two are
the stiffest sentences handed down in any of the roughly 675
riot prosecutions.
Lamberth said he believed Chansley, 34, had done a lot to
convince the court he is "on the right track."
Chansley's attorney asked the judge for a sentence of time
served for his client, who has been detained since his January
arrest. Chansley appeared in court in a dark green prison
jumpsuit, with a beard and shaved head.
"The hardest part of this is that I know I am to blame,"
Chansley said in a lengthy statement before he was sentenced,
describing a difficult childhood and saying he had taken
responsibility for his behavior.
"I thought I was going to get 20 years solitary confinement," he
said, adding: "This trauma has done something to me ... I have
the white hairs to prove it ... on my chest ... on my arms... I
should not have white hairs your honor."
While in detention, Chansley was diagnosed by prison officials
with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and
anxiety. When he entered his guilty plea, Chansley said he was
disappointed Trump had not pardoned him.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives and
acquitted by the Senate on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot
for a fiery speech that preceded it in which he told his
followers to "fight like hell."
Four people died in the violence. A Capitol Police officer who
had been attacked by protesters died the day after the riot and
four police officers who took part in the defense of the Capitol
later took their own lives. About 140 police officers were
injured.
Most of the guilty pleas in Jan. 6 prosecutions so far have been
in cases involving non-violent misdemeanors, but government
lawyers are seeking prison sentences for some defendants facing
more serious felony charges.
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott
Malone and Steve Orlofsky)
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