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A New Jersey gym owner and a Washington state man charged in connection with the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill became the first defendants to plead guilty to assaulting law enforcement officials.
Scott Kevin Fairlamb, who had previously been charged with 12 counts, pleaded guilty in a remote hearing Friday to one count of obstructing formal proceedings and another for “assaulting, resisting or obstructing certain officers “the District of Columbia’s attorney’s office confirmed to The Hill.
The 44-year-old, who has been in prison since his arrest on January 22, will appear at a sentencing hearing on September 27, where he faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a $ 250,000 fine for obstructing formal proceedings and up to eight years; and $ 250,000 fine for assault against law enforcement.
The prosecutor’s office later announced that Devlyn Thompson, 28, at another hearing on Friday, pleaded guilty to criminal charges accusing him of assaulting, resisting or hindering officers while using a dangerous weapon.
Thompson, a native of Seattle, had not been in custody since the riot and is now facing his own sentencing hearing on September 27.
He could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release and a fine of $ 250,000, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to a criminal complaint filed in January with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, a “concerned citizen” submitted a video to the FBI showing a man, later identified by authorities as Fairlamb, “pushing and hitting” an officer in front of the Capitol as an elder President Trump
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Another video submitted by a “second concerned citizen” was included in a Facebook post from the Fairlamb account, in which the mixed martial arts veteran could be seen holding a foldable stick and saying, “What are the Patriots doing? We disarm them, then we storm the Capitol!
Prosecutors also said Fairlamb harassed a line of police officers by yelling at them and blocking their ability to respond to the crowd storming the Capitol.
Fairlamb defense attorney Harley Breite said in an interview with The Associated Press after Friday’s hearing that his client decided to enter into a plea deal to “pay the price for what he got. done, then go on with his life “.
“It wasn’t so much the case. It was about his desire to take responsibility for what he had done, to become a better person for the future and to move forward, ”he explained.
Breite, who has said he plans to ask the judge for a lower sentence than the government recommended, said Fairlamb’s actions on January 6 had “gutted a lot of his life.”
“He lost his business. The mortgage on his house where he lives with his wife is in jeopardy, ”the lawyer said. “And he has been publicly dishonored.”
Prosecutors said Thompson admitted he was “part of a mob of individuals on the Lower West Terrace who pushed and assaulted MPD and Capitol Police (USCP) agents in the tunnel leading to the Capitol Building. United States “.
Thomspon also specifically admitted to throwing “objects and projectiles at officers, including flag poles, and seizing and stealing officers’ riot shields to prevent them from defending themselves against violence.”
Thompson’s lawyers have previously said their client has autism spectrum disorder, which they cited as a reason for keeping him out of jail pending conviction.
Fairlamb and Thompson are among more than 560 people who have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the January 6 riot, and two of at least 33 defendants have pleaded guilty.
Five officers who responded to the riots have since died, four of whom committed suicide.
Update: 5:20 p.m.
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