WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2022) New Jersey resident Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli has been sentenced to four years in prison on felony and misdemeanor charges committed during the events at the US capitol on January 6, 2021, the US Justice Department said.
"Hale-Cusanelli drove to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. He joined a mob of rioters that illegally breached a police line attempting to secure the Capitol grounds. He commanded others in the mob to 'advance' on the Capitol, a command he continued once inside," the Justice Department said in a press release after the sentencing on Thursday.
Hale-Cusanelli, a former US Army reservist, stayed in the Capitol for more than half-an-hour and harassed and shouted derogatory statements at Capitol Police officers, the release said.
Law enforcement arrested Hale-Cusanelli on January 15, 2021, and he has been in detention since. Meanwhile, he was discharged from the US Army Reserves and barred from the Navy base after his arrest, the release said.
On May 27, Hale-Cusanelli was found guilty in a jury trial of a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, and four related misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building, the release said.
After serving the prison term, Hale-Cusanelli will be placed on a three-year supervised release and will have to pay $2,000 in restitution, according to the release.
