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Trump-appointed official sentenced to nearly six years over Jan 6 riot

Marine Corps veteran appointed to State Department during Trump administration attacked police officers during Capitol riot

Michael Kunzelman
Washington (AP)
Friday 03 November 2023 18:05 EDT
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A Marine Corps veteran who served as a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trumpā€™s administration was sentenced on Friday to nearly six years in prison for attacking police officers during the 6 January 2021, riot at the US Capitol.

Federico Klein joined other Trump supporters in one of the most violent episodes of the January 6 siege ā€” a mobā€™s fight with outnumbered police for control of a tunnel entrance on the Capitolā€™s Lower West Terrace. Klein repeatedly assaulted officers, urged other rioters to join the fray and tried to stop police from shutting entrance doors, according to federal prosecutors.

Klein ā€œwaged a relentless siege on police officersā€ as he tried to enter the Capitol and stop Congress from certifying Joe Bidenā€™s electoral victory over Trump, prosecutors said in a court filing.

Klein, who didnā€™t testify at his trial, declined to address the court before US District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison.

ā€œYour actions on January 6th were shocking and egregious,ā€ the judge told Klein.

McFadden also ordered Klein to pay a $3,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution. He will report to prison at a date to be determined.

Klein worked in the State Departmentā€™s office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs from 2017 until he resigned from that position on 19 January 2021, a day before Bidenā€™s inauguration.

Prosecutors said Kleinā€™s participation in the riot was likely motivated by a desire to keep his job as a presidential appointee.

ā€œAs 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,ā€ prosecutors wrote.

Defence attorney Stanley Woodward has accused prosecutors of exaggerating Kleinā€™s role in the riot due to his political connection to the Trump administration.

ā€œAccordingly, 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,ā€ Woodward wrote.

Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year prison sentence for Klein, an Alexandria, Virginia, resident who was 42 years old at the time of the riot. Klein was arrested in March 2021.

In July 2023, McFadden heard trial testimony without a jury before he convicted Klein and a co-defendant, Steven Cappuccio, of assault charges and other Capitol riot-related offences.

Klein and Cappuccio were among nine defendants charged in a 53-count indictment. The judge convicted Klein of 12 counts, including six assault charges.

McFadden was scheduled to sentence Cappuccio later on Friday. McFadden allowed Klein to remain free under house arrest after his conviction but ordered Cappuccio to be jailed immediately after the verdict.

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 10 years and one month for Cappuccio, who was arrested at his home in Universal City, Texas, in August 2021.

Klein and Cappuccio separately attended Trumpā€™s ā€œStop the Stealā€ rally on January 6 before marching to the Capitol. Klein was in the first wave of rioters to enter the tunnel, according to prosecutors. They said he pushed hard against officers, telling them, ā€œYou canā€™t stop this!ā€

Klein also wedged a stolen police riot shield between two doors, preventing officers from closing them, prosecutors said. Video captured Klein encouraging other rioters to attack police, repeatedly yelling, ā€œWe need fresh people!ā€

McFadden told Klein on Friday that his conduct ā€œprolonged the mayhemā€ in the tunnel.

ā€œYou were front and centre in that chaos,ā€ the judge said.

Cappuccio yelled, ā€œStorming the castle, boys!ā€ and chanted, ā€œFight for Trump!ā€ and ā€œOur house!ā€ as he reached the Lower West Terrace. In the tunnel, he joined other rioters in pushing against the police line, prosecutors said.

When another rioter pinned Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges against a door, Cappuccio ripped a gas mask off the officerā€™s face and dislodged his helmet, prosecutors said.

Klein, who served in the Marine Corps for roughly nine years, was deployed to Iraq as a combat engineer in 2005. In January 2017, he went to work for the State Department as a desk officer specialising in the South American region.

Klein also worked for Trumpā€™s 2016 campaign and took time off from work after the 2020 presidential election and travelled to Nevada to help investigate the baseless claims of voter fraud promoted by Trump and his allies, prosecutors said.

Nearly 1,200 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury or judge after a trial. Approximately 700 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to 22 years.

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