Capitol Rioter Gets Sentenced To Nearly Five Years In Prison After Admitting To Major Felonies

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A participant in the pro-Trump chaos at the U.S. Capitol complex of January 6, 2021, was just given a lengthy prison sentence.

Defendant Anthony Mastanduno, who admitted to criminal allegations including six felony counts, got 57 months in prison, which works out to nearly five years. His time in prison will be followed by two years of supervised release.

As already made relatively routine in Capitol riot cases, Mastanduno was specifically accused of serious physical violence before getting this somewhat longer prison sentence, and the felonies to which he admitted included two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon. Each count of that offense can come with up to 20 years in prison if convicted, though most Capitol riot consequences, when prison was even included, didn’t reach that long of a sentence.

One of the items that Mastanduno used at the Capitol complex was “a blue, flagpole-like object,” per authorities. He apparently hurled the item “into the mouth of the Tunnel, as if throwing a javelin or spear, toward a line of police officers,” added authorities, referring to the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the Capitol complex where a significant amount of physical violence was seen that day.

The new press release also said that the defendant used a police shield and telescoping baton against gathered officers. These reported interactions took place some two hours after the Capitol building itself was first breached by riot participants elsewhere.

Trump, who many accuse of bearing responsibility for the violence, was pressed about the day’s events during his recent debate with President Joe Biden. Trump was dismissive of the idea there are even that many Americans who believe he violated his oath of office around the events of that day. Trump has repeatedly proposed legal assistance including presidential pardons for defendants in Capitol riot cases.