Weekly January 6th Rioter Roundup: Week of August 8th

     Derek Sulenta, a Long Beach, California, man who posted his intent to go to the Capitol before the insurrection and bragged about being there after the fact, was arrested on four misdemeanor counts with a combined maximum penalty of three years behind bars.

     Jeramiah Caplinger, a Michigan man, became the first insurrectionist to plead guilty to a class B misdemeanor of climbing on U.S. Capitol grounds and received a sentence of 35 days in prison, two years of probation, 60 hours of community service, and $500 restitution. He was most infamous for quoting Game of Thrones to justify calls for political violence.

     Kasey Hopkins, a Kansas City, Kansas, man, was charged with the same four misdemeanors as Sulenta after he spent 18 minutes inside the Capitol building, including inside the office of Senator Jeff Merkley.

     Lisa Homer, a former Yakima County Commission candidate who wore a bulletproof vest and goggles to the Capitol and joined a group of Proud Boys in chanting outside the building, was let off with three years of probation; 60 hours of community service; and $5,500 in restitution and fines by white supremacist judge Trevor McFadden. While she said she wouldn't do it again, she also claimed that she was grateful for having a Trump appointee as a judge and claimed that Biden was not the legitimate president.

     Jason Hyland, a Frisco, Texas, real estate agent who flew to Washington, D.C. on a private jet with fellow defendants Jenna Ryan and Katie Schwab, was sentenced to a week in jail with $4,500 in fines and restitution for parading, picketing, or demonstrating in a Capitol building.

     Christopher Ortiz, a New York man who pleaded guilty to the same charge as Hyland, was sentenced to two months of house arrest with a year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and $500 restitution.

     Jerod and Joshua Hughes, two Montana men who chased Officer Eugene Goodman up the steps in the Capitol before entering the Senate chamber, announced through their attorney that they would plead guilty to a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding later this month; they face a likely sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison if they, in fact, do so.

     Jim Robinson, a 60-year-old Pennsylvania resident who is a fourth-degree black belt in the Korean fighting style Tang Soo Do, claimed he rendered aid on January 6th but was arrested on numerous misdemeanor counts for allegedly taking down a barricade and joining other insurrectionists in a chant before pushing through them to enter the Capitol.

     Juliano Gross, a New Jersey man who livestreamed his actions on TikTok, pleaded guilty to picketing, parading, or demonstrating in the Capitol building, a class B misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and five years of probation but often yields much lower sentences. 

     Brent Holdridge, a Eureka, Oregon, drug addict pictured holding a rolled-up flag he bought at the "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6th, pled guilty to the standard misdemeanor charge of picketing, parading, or demonstrating in the Capitol building.

     Benjamin Larocca, a Seabrook, Texas, man who pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge in exchange for flipping on his friend (fellow Seabrook resident Christian Cortez, who would plead guilty to a felony), was sentenced to 60 days in prison, a year of probation, 60 hours of community service, and $2,500 in fines and reparation.

     Bryan Betancur, an aspiring Proud Boy and self-professed white supremacist from Silver Spring, Maryland, who went by the name "Maximo Clooney," was sentenced to four months in prison with a year of probation and $500 restitution after pleading guilty to a class A misdemeanor of entering and remaining in a restricted building. He had issued statements in which he expressed a desire to be a lone wolf killer; stated his support for neo-Nazi James Fields, who killed counterprotestor Heather Heyer in Charlottesville in 2017; refused to answer questions in his pre-sentencing interview and flashed the white supremacist "OK" sign as he left; was involved in an incident in June 2022 in which, armed with a knife, he shouted racial slurs at train passengers; was pictured with a Confederate flag; and lied to a probation officer (after a 2019 burglary conviction) by claiming he was selling Gideon bibles in order to get permission to travel to Washington, D.C. on January 6th as well as for a Proud Boys rally on December 12th, 2020, that saw leader Enrique Tarrio arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter flag from a black church.

     Matthew Council, 50, of Riverview, Florida, pleaded guilty to felony counts of assault on law enforcement and civil disorder and four related misdemeanors for pushing through a line of police after being pepper sprayed but falling to the ground and being arrested on the spot. He faces an estimated sentence of 24 to 30 months when he is sentenced on November 1st.

     Thomas Robertson, 49, a former Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officer who was convicted of five felonies and a misdemeanor at trial in April after having his bond revoked for purchasing dozens of firearms and assembling a pipe bomb in his home, a man who went viral for dancing with Black Lives Matter protestors but claimed he needed the walking stick he took to the Capitol for a military injury, a man who lied about his military service and tossed his phone into the Atlantic Ocean after police ordered him to turn himself in, was sentenced to 87 months in prison with three years of probation and $2,000 restitution, tying the record for the longest sentence to date.

     Loammi "Elijah" Yazdani-Isfehani, the brother of two Athens, Ohio, sisters who pleaded guilty last week, pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge of picketing, parading, or demonstrating in the Capitol building and, like his sisters, is awaiting sentencing.

     Thaddis Johnson, a Fresno, California, man with an alleged history of gang-affiliated violence who was arrested just weeks beforehand, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of parading in the U.S. Capitol.

     Shawndale and Donald Chilcoat (what kind of name is Shawndale?), a couple from Mercer County, Ohio, were each arrested on a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and four related misdemeanors carrying a combined total of 23 years in prison per partner after at least a dozen online tips, including photos of the duo inside the Senate chamber, were submitted to the FBI.

     Glen Mitchell Simon, a 31-year-old Capitol rioter who was lucky to avoid a felony charge for interfering with police, a man who participated in violent counterdemonstrations against Black Lives Matter protesters in his home state of Georgia but claimed he only participated in the insurrection because of his failing marriage and business, was sentenced to eight months in prison with a year of probation and $1,500 in fines and restitution for a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.