- A federal judge ordered a married couple who participated in the Capitol siege to serve 24 months probation.
- Zachary and Kelsey Wilson were arrested after storming the Capitol and entering Pelosi's office.
- They were also accused of lying to the FBI about their role in the riot.
She entered through the Senate wing doors, he through a nearby window. But on January 6, 2021, Kelsey and Zachary Wilson were otherwise together as they participated in the attack on the Capitol and "went pretty much everywhere in the building," a federal prosecutor said Thursday.
On Thursday, the married couple avoided prison time for their participation in the deadly siege. They each received two years of probation, with Judge Amit Mehta ordering Zachary and Kelsey Wilson to serve 45 days and 30 days of home detention, respectively.
Mehta also ordered 60 hours of community service to be completed within the two-year probation period.
"Regrettably, you all made the decision to do something that contributed to a transition of power that ultimately was marred by violence, destruction, and death," Mehta said at the sentencing hearing on Thursday.
But he added: "I think you are both decent people. I think you are decent, hardworking Americans who were regrettably caught up in something."
The Wilsons pleaded guilty last year to one count each of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building.
The Justice Department recommended that they spend two weeks in prison, three years probation, and pay $500 in restitution.
The FBI first learned of Zachary Wilson's participation in the deadly siege from an anonymous tipster who pointed to a Facebook post from Wilson saying he had entered the building.
"First ones in !! !!" Wilson commented on a post asking if he went into the Capitol. "First thing we found was [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's office."
The government said in its sentencing memo for Zachary Wilson that, in addition to entering the Capitol and posting footage of the breach online, he lied to the FBI about his participation in the riot.
Kelsey Wilson did not post footage of the breach on social media, but the Justice Department said she entered Pelosi's office with her husband and lacked candor with the FBI.
"Unfortunately, they didn't tell the truth," said prosecutor Jacob Strain, who noted that Zachary Wilson lied at least times, "mostly about Ms. Wilson's involvement."
"Ms. Wilson never told the FBI that she had entered the building," Strain added.
The FBI also saw video footage from the Capitol Police that showed the Wilsons walking down a hallway in the building. Law enforcement officials said Kelsey Wilson was seen with a "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN" flag wrapped around her.
The Justice Department emphasized that the Wilsons' participation in the riot "took place in the context of a large and violent riot that relied on numbers to overwhelm law enforcement, breach the Capitol, and disrupt the proceedings."
If not for their actions "alongside so many others, the riot likely would have failed to disrupt the certification vote," the government said in sentencing memos for the two defendants. "As this Court knows, a riot cannot occur without rioters, and each rioter's actions – from the most mundane to the most violent – contributed, directly and indirectly, to the violence and destruction of that day."
"I know that what I did was wrong and I know that it was detrimental to the country," Zachary Wilson said at the sentencing hearing. "I can assure you that if I could take it all back I would in a heartbeat."
He also apologized to staffers who were trapped in the building during the siege, adding that he was "incredibly sorry" for his participation in the riot, which he said "put a stain on our country's history."
US District Judge Amit Mehta, who presided over the hearing, asked Wilson why he thought it was okay to enter the Capitol on January 6.
"I think it really was just kind of like an impulse," Wilson said. "I did not believe it was okay, my common sense told me that ... maybe I didn't register it at the moment, but afterwards, I realized that wasn't okay."
Mehta also pressed Wilson on why he deleted his social media posts from the inside of the building after the siege.
"I was caught up in President Trump telling everybody that the election got stolen, he had everybody enraged," Wilson said.
He added that "we didn't have any idea" initially that the Trump rally that preceded the siege would lead to marching to the Capitol. "We thought we were just there for the speech, and when he told everybody to march, we were like, okay," Wilson said, referring to Trump.
"I really feel stupid, to be honest," he said. When asked why he lied to the FBI about his role in the riot, Wilson replied: "I just panicked."
Mehta then told Wilson that he was "lucky" not to have been charged with an additional count of lying to the FBI.
Kelsey Wilson called the aftermath of the Capitol riot "one of the most life changing things that I will ever go through," adding, "I know what I did on January 6 was wrong. We got caught up in everything that was happening in the last year and got swept up in the crowd."
"I'm embarrassed and deeply sorry for my actions that day," she continued. "My family is truly sorry for the embarrassment that we brought on our country, and we will definitely pay for this for the rest of our lives."
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