A man who was appointed to a post at the State Department during the Trump administration was sentenced to 70 months in prison this Friday for his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, NBC News reported.
Federico Klein was convicted of eight felonies as well as misdemeanor offenses in July of this year.
The government had sought 10 years in federal prison for Klein, saying he “was likely motivated by a personal benefit — namely, continued employment as a political appointee — when he attacked the U.S. Capitol.” They pointed to messages he sent ahead of Jan. 6 — “Hell yea I’m going. I’m a Trump appointee” — as well as the fact that he “took time off from work at the State Department to volunteer to travel to Las Vegas” to investigate the false claims that the Trump campaign was making about mass voter fraud.
“You can’t stop this!” Klein yelled during one of the assaults in the lower west tunnel at the U.S. Capitol, which was the site of some of the worst violence of the attack. At one point, prosecutors said, Klein “wedged a police riot shield in between the doors, helping to force the doors back open and allowing rioters to continue their assaults on police.”
McFadden imposed the sentence following a sentencing hearing on Friday. Klein was represented by attorney Stanley Woodward, who represents several Trump aides who have been caught up in federal investigations surrounding the former president.
Read the full report over at NBC News.
