Capitol storming case: first defendant sentenced to prison term
Kyiv • UNN
Michael Sparks, who broke into the Capitol on January 6, was sentenced to 53 months in prison. He was found guilty on six charges.
The first participant in the storming of the US Capitol, which broke into the building on January 6, was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison, UNN reports citing Axios.
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"Michael Sparks, a Kentucky resident who opposed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and called for violence online months before the attack, was sentenced to 53 months in federal prison," the publication writes.
Prosecutors in Sparks' case dropped charges of election interference - a charge the Justice Department has cited in more than 300 cases (including Trump's) on January 6 - before sentencing. The move followed a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on such charges.
Sparks was found guilty by a jury in March on all six charges against him.
According to court documents, Sparks entered the building that day through a window - despite being pepper-sprayed and ordered to stop - and was part of a crowd that chased Officer Eugene Goodman up the stairs. A U.S. Capitol Police sergeant testified that Sparks gave what appeared to be a "green light" for those who followed him into the building that day.
