A retired US police commander who took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol was given a sentence of more than 11 years in jail on Thursday in Washington.
In July, Alan Hostetter,59, was found guilty of four felonies, including obstructing an official procedure through conspiracy and engaging in unruly or disruptive behavior in a restricted building while carrying a lethal or dangerous weapon.
The 11 years and 3 months in prison was just somewhat shorter than the 12.5 years that the prosecution had asked for.
On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol building, home to the US Congress, to try to disrupt the official certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Hostetter defended himself throughout the proceedings at a federal court in Washington. He was scheduled to start his term in January. He never wavered in his conviction that Biden had cheated on Trump to win the election.
According to the Justice Department, over 1,230 persons have been charged with riot-related offenses thus far. Of them, over 450 have been found guilty; many of them will go to prison.
Before the brawl, Trump gave an energizing speech to supporters close to the White House, but he has not been directly linked to the incident.
In December 2022, a congressional commission investigating the events of January 6 recommended criminal charges against Trump, notably for aiding an insurrection and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The 77-year-old Trump, who is leading the race for the Republican presidential nominee, is scheduled to face on trial in Washington in March on allegations that he plotted to rig the results of Biden’s election victory in November 2020.
On the grounds that he attempted to tamper with the results of the 2020 Georgia election, he was charged with racketeering.
