SAN ANTONIO — A Marine Corps veteran who served as a politically appointed State Department reliable in former President Donald Trump’s management used to be sentenced on Friday to just about six years in jail for attacking cops all through the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Federico Klein joined different Trump supporters in one of the crucial violent episodes of the Jan. 6 siege — a mob’s battle with outnumbered police for keep an eye on of a tunnel front at the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Klein time and again assaulted officials, steered different rioters to sign up for the fray and attempted to forestall police from shutting front doorways, in accordance to federal prosecutors.
Klein “waged a relentless siege on police officers” as he attempted to input the Capitol and prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Trump, (*6*).
Klein, who did not testify at his trial, declined to deal with the courtroom sooner than U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced him to 5 years and 10 months in jail.
“Your actions on January 6th were shocking and egregious,” the pass judgement on informed Klein.
McFadden additionally ordered Klein to pay a $3,000 wonderful and $2,000 in restitution. He will file to jail at a date to be made up our minds.
Klein labored in the State Department’s place of job of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs from 2017 till he resigned from that place on Jan. 19, 2021, an afternoon sooner than Biden’s inauguration.
Prosecutors stated Klein’s participation in the rebellion used to be most likely motivated by means of a need to stay his task as a presidential appointee.
“As an employee of the federal government, Klein was endowed with the trust of the American people and to uphold the law. He violated that trust on January 6 when he attacked the very country for which he was paid to work,” prosecutors wrote.
Defense legal professional Stanley Woodward has accused prosecutors of exaggerating Klein’s role in the rebellion due to his political connection to the Trump management.
“Accordingly, Mr. Klein should be sentenced for his actual role in the events of the day, and not the more egregious conduct of others with which the government would have Mr. Klein be found guilty by association,” Woodward wrote.
Prosecutors had really helpful a 10-year jail sentence for Klein, an Alexandria, Virginia, resident who used to be 42 years outdated on the time of the rebellion. Klein used to be arrested in March 2021.
In July 2023, McFadden heard trial testimony without a jury sooner than he convicted Klein and a co-defendant, Steven Cappuccio, of attack fees and different Capitol riot-related offenses.
Klein and Cappuccio had been amongst 9 defendants charged in a 53-count indictment. The pass judgement on convicted Klein of 12 counts, together with six attack fees.
Also on Friday, McFadden sentenced Cappuccio, 53, of Universal City, Texas, to seven years and one month in jail, in accordance to a Justice Department news free up. Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 10 years and one month for Cappuccio, who used to be arrested at his house in August 2021.
Klein and Cappuccio one by one attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 sooner than marching to the Capitol. Klein used to be in the primary wave of rioters to input the tunnel, in accordance to prosecutors. They stated he driven laborious towards officials, telling them, “You can’t stop this!”
Klein additionally wedged a stolen police rebellion defend between two doorways, combating officials from last them, prosecutors stated. Video captured Klein encouraging different rioters to assault police, time and again yelling, “We need fresh people!”
McFadden informed Klein on Friday that his habits “prolonged the mayhem” in the tunnel.
“You were front and center in that chaos,” the judge said.
Cappuccio yelled, “Storming the castle, boys!” and chanted, “Fight for Trump!” and “Our house!” as he reached the Lower West Terrace. In the tunnel, he joined different rioters in pushing towards the police line, prosecutors stated.
When any other rioter pinned Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges towards a door, Cappuccio ripped a gasoline masks off the officer’s face and dislodged his helmet, prosecutors stated.
Klein, who served in the Marine Corps for kind of 9 years, used to be deployed to Iraq as a struggle engineer in 2005. In January 2017, he went to paintings for the State Department as a table officer specializing in the South American area.
Klein additionally labored for Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign and took time without work from paintings after the 2020 presidential election and traveled to Nevada to lend a hand examine the baseless claims of voter fraud promoted by means of Trump and his allies, prosecutors stated.
Nearly 1,200 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have pleaded responsible or been convicted by means of a jury or pass judgement on after an ordeal. Approximately 700 of them were sentenced, with kind of two-thirds receiving phrases of imprisonment starting from 3 days to 22 years.
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