HELENE, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man who was among the first people to illegally enter the U.S. Capitol while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election has been sentenced to just over three years in federal prison .
Joshua Hughes of East Helena was sentenced Tuesday by US District Judge Timothy J. Kelly in Washington to 38 months in prison for his actions during the approximately 38 minutes he was in…
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HELENE, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man who was among the first people to illegally enter the U.S. Capitol while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election has been sentenced to just over three years in federal prison .
Joshua Hughes of East Helena was sentenced Tuesday to 38 months in prison by US District Judge Timothy J. Kelly in Washington for his actions during about 38 minutes he spent in the Capitol during the riot led by supporters of then President Donald Trump.
Hughes, 39, was also ordered to pay $2,000 in damages.
Kelly called the January 6, 2021 events a national disgrace, Hughes’ attorney, Palmer Hoovestal, told the Independent Record in an email.
“Without the peaceful transfer of power to a democratic form of government, you have nothing,” Hoovestal wrote. “He therefore wanted to send a message of general deterrence to the people that if you interfere in the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected leadership, you do so at your own peril.”
Hughes and his brother Jerod Hughes, 37, pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding in August.
The brothers climbed through a broken window and Jerod Hughes helped push open a door to let other rioters into the Capitol while Congress confirmed the 2020 Electoral College vote, the FBI said in loading documents.
The brothers were near a group that was chasing Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman while he backed up a flight of stairs and was able to lead the mob away from the Senate. The brothers later made their way to the Senate chambers, court filings say.
Jerod Hughes is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6, 2023, the two-year anniversary of the uprising.
The brothers are among at least 880 people charged with federal crimes related to the uprising.
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