The fur-clad son of a Brooklyn decide is because of be launched from jail subsequent month. A former Military reservist who impersonated Hitler is locked up on the federal jail at Fort Dix till 2024. And a conservative influencer who cooperated with the federal authorities is now swearing that he isn’t a snitch.
Two years after the violent try and overrun the U.S. Capitol and overturn the 2020 election, Gothamist reviewed the circumstances of those from the New York and New Jersey area charged with federal crimes stemming from their alleged actions that day. Many who stormed the steps of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 stayed out of jail, and had been sentenced to only fines, probation, or dwelling detention. Some are awaiting trial or sentencing. Others have already completed transient sentences.
Right here’s the newest on among the extra distinguished circumstances:
Presently On Trial
Roberto Minuta: One among solely 11 folks charged with the intense and hardly ever invoked federal crime of seditious conspiracy, this Oath Keeper — who previously lived in Hackettstown, NJ, and owns a tattoo parlor in Newburgh, NY — is now on trial alongside three co-defendants. Two fellow members of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government group made up of former law enforcement officials and troopers, had been convicted of seditious conspiracy final month, two extra pleaded responsible, and three had been acquitted of the conspiracy cost however discovered responsible of different costs.
Minuta, 38, is alleged to have labored safety for Donald Trump operative Roger Stone and stormed the Capitol in a military-style formation whereas armed with bear spray and carrying tactical gear. The federal government says that as a member of an organized militia, Minuta conspired to launch the assault.
Minuta has been out on bail since his arrest in 2021, after which he posted a video on Fb: “I’m praying for all of you who have such hate in your hearts that you find it necessary to destroy an already broken man. So bless you, I’m praying for you because that hate in your heart is going to take you down.”
Dominic Pezzola: Some of the excessive profile trials stemming from the riot is ready to start later this month, as prosecutors carry one other seditious conspiracy case towards 5 members of the Proud Boys, together with the neo-fascist group’s chief, Enrique Tarrio, and Pezzola, a member from Rochester, NY.
Prosecutors say Pezzola – nickname Spaz – was the “first to breach the Capitol,” utilizing a riot protect to smash by way of the constructing’s window. Now 45, he was additionally allegedly seen on digital camera chasing a police officer by way of the halls of the constructing. Pezzola faces as much as 20 years in jail if convicted.
Serving Jail Sentences
Thomas Webster: Webster, 56, a retired NYPD officer who swung a flagpole at a D.C. police officer and choked him along with his personal chinstrap, was sentenced in September to 10 years in jail, the longest time period handed down up to now to any of the U.S. Capitol rioters. In the course of the trial, prosecutors famous that Webster, a former Marine who as soon as served in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s safety element, introduced an NYPD-issued bullet proof vest, suggesting the violence was premeditated.
At his sentencing, Decide Amit Mehta described Webster, 56, as a sufferer, who was “brought to a place where his mind and his otherwise sense of equilibrium, his patriotism, his sense of self are lost.”
“I think you were caught up in a moment, and as you well know, even being caught up in a moment has consequences,” Mehta added.
Webster shouldn’t be the one former NYPD officer to face costs for collaborating within the riot. Sara Carpenter, 53, a retired NYPD spokesperson who was seen on video shaking a tambourine contained in the Capitol rotunda, is at present awaiting trial on costs of violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Scott Fairlamb: A former North Jersey fitness center proprietor and one-time MMA fighter, Fairlamb, 45, pleaded responsible to obstruction and assaulting an officer. Fairlamb was caught on video cursing at, shoving, and punching an officer within the head.
In 2021, Fairlamb was sentenced to a few years and seven months in jail. Presently held at a federal jail in North Carolina, he is because of be launched in November. Final month, in a notice on a web-based fundraising web page arrange by his spouse, Fairlamb referred to as himself a “political prisoner” and mentioned he ought to be launched to a midway home as a result of he suffers from most cancers.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli: A former Military reservist, Hale-Cusanelli, 32, used tactical hand alerts to information protesters into the Capitol and was one of many first to breach the constructing, federal prosecutors mentioned. They argued that he harbored extremist views, rising a Hitler mustache at his safety job at New Jersey’s Naval Weapons Station Earle, the place colleagues advised authorities he frequently made anti-Semitic remarks.
Hale-Cusanelli was convicted final yr and sentenced to 4 years in jail. Held at Fort Dix in South Jersey, he’s resulting from be launched in June 2024. He has claimed to be half-Jewish, and likened his curiosity in Hitler to being a historical past buff.
Sam Fisher: Identified on-line as Brad Vacation, Fisher, 33, was certainly one of a number of self-described “pick-up artists,” or misogynistic anti-feminists, to face costs in reference to the riot. He was arrested weeks after the assault on the Capitol, at which level FBI brokers found a cache of weapons inside his Higher East Facet condominium — together with a semi-automatic rifle, bullet proof vest, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Fisher, who dabbled within the Qanon conspiracy and ran a YouTube web page devoted to “help[ing] men get high value girls,” had repeatedly posed on-line along with his firearms, promising to “bring the pain upon” Trump’s enemies.
He was sentenced this previous April to a few and a half years in jail after pleading responsible to prison possession of a weapon within the second diploma. He is not going to serve extra jail time for his function within the riot.
Aaron Mostofsky: Strolling the halls of Congress draped in a coat of fur pelts and carrying a police riot protect, this Midwood resident was among the many most visually memorable of the Jan. 6 rioters. He is additionally the son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court docket Decide Schlomo Mostofsky.
When Mostofsky, 35, pled responsible earlier this yr to felony civil dysfunction, his legal professional included a number of letters of help from native rabbis. At his sentencing listening to, Decide James Boasberg steered those letters accounted for his comparatively mild jail sentence of eight months — seven fewer than the federal government had requested and under the federal pointers.
“It seems that perhaps, like your interest in ‘Star Wars’ and other fantasy that I read about, that you somehow got sucked into the fantasy of a stolen election,” Boasberg mentioned. “I hope that you will leave some of that fantasy world behind.”
Mostofsky is because of be launched subsequent month.
Sentenced to Probation
Thomas Charge: A retired FDNY firefighter, Charge, 54, was seen on video roaming the U.S. Capitol constructing for roughly 40 minutes. At factors, he appeared to supply route to others, encouraging them to come back additional into the constructing, in keeping with Decide John Bates.
However whereas Bates discovered the defendant performed an “active engagement role” within the riot, the decide declined to impose the prosecution’s advisable sentence of 30 days in jail, citing Charge’s “commendable public service” within the FDNY. As a substitute, Charge was sentenced to 24 months of probation in July.
Brandon Straka: At the beginning of 2022, Straka’s case appeared largely resolved. The conservative influencer and frequent Fox Information visitor pleaded responsible to misdemeanor costs of disorderly conduct in January. He obtained a sentence of 36 months of probation.
However the case gained new salience this previous summer time, when a court docket clerk by chance unsealed data displaying the extent of Straka’s cooperation with the FBI. In keeping with those data, Straka, 45, offered “significant information” to federal investigators about lead organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally. The cooperation got here after Straka advised his followers, within the midst of the riot, that those on the Capitol had been “freedom loving Patriots,” including that “everyone else can denounce them. I will not.”
In an obvious try at injury management, Straka made a number of media appearances denouncing the federal authorities and casting doubt on his statements made previous to the sentencing. Those remarks prompted rebuke from District Court docket Decide Dabney Friedrich in August, who implied his conduct may influence his probationary supervision. However, Straka has continued to claim that he was a sufferer of a authorities conspiracy, tweeting as lately as this week that the federal government had advised “thousands of lies” about Jan. 6.
Reached by cellphone, Straka declined to debate the specifics of his case, sustaining that protection of his case was “coming from people who are politically motivated.”
Marissa Suarez: A former corrections officer in Monmouth County, NJ, Suarez, 33, went to the Capitol together with her pal and co-defendant, Patricia Todisco, 34. Each pleaded responsible final yr to parading, demonstrating, or picketing the Capitol constructing, and had been every sentenced to fines and three years probation. Their clear prison data, and a scarcity of proof indicating that they had been concerned in violence that day, helped them keep away from jail time.
Suarez despatched textual content messages after the riot that learn, “Sooo we’ve stormed Capitol Hill lol,” and “When we found out pence f–ked us, we all stormed the Capitol building and everyone forced entry and started breaking shit.” She resigned from Monmouth Correctional Facility after her arrest and now works at a tanning salon, in keeping with a court docket memo from her legal professional.
Awaiting Trial
Christopher Quaglin: Prosecutors allege that Quaglin, an electrician from New Brunswick, NJ, was affiliated with the Proud Boys when he assaulted law enforcement officials defending the Capitol. They are saying he used pepper spray on the officers, and stole certainly one of their riot shields, yelling: “You’re on the wrong f–king side!”
Within the weeks after Trump’s election loss, Quaglin had pledged on social media that he was “going to war” and reserved a number of resort rooms in Washington for January 6th. After the assault, he posted a video from certainly one of those rooms: “It was a great time, I got bumps and bruises.” His trial is scheduled for later this yr.