DOJ Seeks Six Years For North Carolina January 6th Defendant

     Federal prosecutors have filed a memorandum seeking 72 months (six years) in prison for a North Carolina resident convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Additionally, the government is seeking to have Anthony Mastanduno placed on three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,630 in fees and restitution.

     Mastanduno, 61, a resident of Rutherford County, pleaded guilty in March to six felonies and three misdemeanors for actions during the attack that spanned several hours and were oftentimes violent. Mastanduno entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door just four minutes after it had been breached by the mob that first entered the building. He spent 20 minutes inside the Capitol building, where he helped rush past a line of police officers, one of whom said while being interviewed that he thought his kids would be growing up without him. The North Carolinian then posed for a picture next to a bust on which insurrectionists had placed a red "MAGA" hat.

     He had already committed multiple felony and misdemeanor crimes, but he was just getting warmed up. Mastanduno then headed to the Lower West Terrace, where some of the worst violence against law enforcement took place that day. First, he threw a flagpole like a javelin at officers defending the tunnel. Then, he used a stolen riot shield to push against the police, simultaneously using a baton to strike at the hands and arms of police officers. At one point, he even reached over the shield of an officer in an attempt to strike him in the head. By 4:45 PM, more than two hours after first entering the Capitol, he left the tunnel when officers sprayed him with a chemical irritant.

     Mastanduno had witnessed even more violence before deciding to participate in it. He saw Michigan resident Michael Foy assault law enforcement with a hockey stick; assisted Louisiana insurrectionist Ronald Alfred Bryan after he was hit with a chemical irritant; and was captured on the bodycam of an officer who was dragged down a flight of stairs. Mastanduno actually leaned over the railing to get a better look at that last assault. After seeing all of this, he decided to join in and commit the assaults he pleaded guilty to.

     Mastanduno finally left the Capitol grounds after 5 PM as law enforcement began to regain control of the area, by which point he had been in a restricted area illegally for over three hours. Mastanduno had served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years from 1983 to 1987, worked as a security guard for Wells Fargo, and served with the Copiague, New York Volunteer Fire Department from 1988 to 2003. He knew exactly what the stakes were, yet he stormed the Capitol and violently assaulted and terrorized law enforcement.

     The photo of Mastanduno posing in front of the statue was taken by Glenn Wes Lee Croy of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was discovered on Croy's phone when he was arrested in February 2021. Mastanduno's assaults on police in the Lower West Terrace tunnel were captured on video by fellow defendant Mariposa Castro of California. Law enforcement identified Mastanduno via his Facebook page, where he had posted in November 2020 denying the validity of that election. A subpoena was sent to Meta, which provided law enforcement with Mastanduno's information in September 2022. The FBI then contacted Mastanduno's employer, who confirmed he was off from the 5th to the 7th of January. They got ahold of Mastanduno's credit records, which showed a purchase at a Maryland gas station, and, in December 2022, showed a picture of Mastanduno to a fellow employee at PSEG, who positively identified him. 

     Mastanduno was arrested in August 2023. When law enforcement surveyed his rural property, they observed a sign that said, "This property is protected by a United States Marine who has a serious lack of negotiating skills, but is absolute hell in a gunfight." Largely because of that sign, he was taken into custody after his March 2024 guilty plea. 

     For his part, Mastanduno is seeking a laughable sentence of 14 months in prison. His attorney argues that his father was a Purple Heart recipient who left Mastanduno and his mom and four older siblings when Mastanduno was three; that he served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps; that he assisted in 9/11 recovery efforts as a firefighter in New York; that his brothers passed away at or before their early sixties; that he has no criminal history and retired last year; and that he was and is an active father to his daughters. They include letters of support from his wife Jodi; his son, Joseph; his daughters Taylor and Amanda; and numerous friends, neighbors, and former co-workers.

     Mastanduno will be sentenced on Thursday by District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has given virtually every other January 6th defendant to come before her exactly the kind of sentence they deserve for attacking American democracy on January 6th, 2021. If the pattern holds, Mr. Mastanduno may be spending his retirement in federal prison instead of at home. He chose to lead an honorable life before January 6th, and he chose to engage in egregious conduct on that day. He'll learn that each of these decisions have consequences.