US man who entered the Capitol on January 6 is sentenced to 53 months in prison

Judge Kelly sentenced the Architect of the Capitol to 53 months in prison and $2,000 in restitution.

The first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riots was sentenced to nearly four and a half years in prison on Tuesday. The Hill reported.

In March, a federal jury found 47-year-old Michael Sparks of Kentucky guilty on six counts, including obstructing police work and obstructing Congress in certifying the 2020 election results.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly dismissed Sparks' obstruction of justice charge earlier this month at the request of prosecutors. The Supreme Court had previously ruled in June that the charge was no longer admissible in the Jan. 6 cases.

On Tuesday, however, the judge said that when determining the sentence, he assumed that obstructing certification was Sparks' intention. The Hill.

Judge Kelly ordered the architect of the Capitol to serve 53 months in prison and pay $2,000 in restitution. The sentence imposed on Michael Sparks deviated from federal sentencing guidelines, which recommend a prison sentence of 15 to 21 months. According to Judge Kelly, a probation officer had even suggested a sentence of 21 months.

In his address to the judge, Sparks said he believed the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and that the United States was “in tyranny.” But he added that he never intended to harm law enforcement. “That's not who I am,” Sparks said, according to The Hill.

Video footage of the riot showed Sparks jumping through a broken Capitol window shortly after another rioter, Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, broke it open. As Sparks entered the Capitol, she came face-to-face with U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Victor Nichols.

Read also: Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump faces additional charges in the election interference case