First rioter to break into Capitol on January 6 is sentenced to 4.5 years in prison

The first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 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 limited the use of that charge in the Jan. 6 cases.
However, on Tuesday, according to The Hill, the judge stated that Sparks' intention was to obstruct the certification.
The judge imposed a prison sentence of 53 months and $2,000 in restitution on the architect of the Capitol. The sentence imposed on Michael Sparks deviated from federal sentencing guidelines, which call for a prison sentence of 15 to 21 months. According to Kelly, a probation officer had even suggested a sentence of 21 months.
Sparks said in his address to the judge that he believes the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and that the United States is “in a 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 during the riot showed Sparks jumping through a broken Capitol window shortly after another rioter, Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, broke it open. As he entered the Capitol, he came face-to-face with U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Victor Nichols.