Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A Tennessee man was sentenced today on eight felony and two misdemeanor charges for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Joseph “Jose” Lino Padilla, 43, of Cleveland, Tennessee, was sentenced to 78 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in the District of Columbia. On May 3, Judge Bates found Padilla guilty, following a bench trial, on ten counts, among them two assaults on police officers, including one with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and obstruction of an official proceeding and related charges. In addition to the prison term, Judge Bates ordered Padilla to serve 24 months of supervised release and to pay restitution of $2,000.

            According to evidence presented in court, Padilla traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021. After he left the rally, Padilla made his way toward the U.S. Capitol building, arriving at the West Plaza at about 1:20 p.m. Here, he approached a line of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers who were standing behind a bike rack barricade. As he got closer, he berated the officers, calling them “traitors” and “oath breakers.”

            At one point, Padilla turned towards an officer and said that the officer was “following unconstitutional orders” and that the officer “had a duty to refuse unconstitutional orders.”

            Padilla, a former prison corrections officer, then repeatedly pushed against the bike racks, forced his way into the Tunnel, and threw a flagpole, striking an officer in the helmet. During the riot, Padilla messaged a family member, “I’ve been beaten. Sprayed and [tased]. Resting before I go in for more,” “Were pushing the door. Had to take a break,” and “It’s not a rally anymore it’s a revolution.” 

            In total, Padilla spent three hours on the West Front of the Capitol, breaking through police lines, rallying other rioters to join him, and relentlessly berating police.

            The day after the riot, Padilla posted on social media, “[T]he Declaration of Independence, one of our founding documents, specifically gave me the right to do what I did. ‘… it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,’” and “Yeah, I’m proud of what I did yesterday. It’s guns next, that’s the only way.”

            Padilla was arrested in Tennessee on Feb. 23, 2021.

            The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Knoxville and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigations are ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — An Illinois man pleaded guilty today to a felony charge for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Tyng Jing Yang, 61, of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, a felony. Yang was arrested on Nov. 16, 2022, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. A sentencing date is scheduled for Feb. 6, 2024.

            According to court documents, Yang was among rioters illegally on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He entered the Capitol building through the Upper West Terrace Doors and made his way up a flight of stairs and into a lobby area outside of the Rotunda. He then entered the Rotunda, where he posed for photos. When law enforcement officers attempted to clear the crowd, Yang forcibly interfered by physically grabbing hold of an officer’s baton. The officer had been using the baton to push back against others in the mob.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

            The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Chicago Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON — An Oregon man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges, including assaulting law enforcement, related to his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Ryan Wilson, 40, of Athena, Oregon, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offenses of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon. Wilson is also charged with several misdemeanors, including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

            Wilson was arrested today in Portland, Oregon, and will make his initial appearance in the District of Oregon.

            According to court documents, Wilson was identified among the crowd of rioters in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel on Jan. 6, 2021. Wilson wore a distinctive plaid button-down shirt and, at times, a black balaclava. Wilson was captured on Capitol building surveillance footage outside the tunnel entrance, standing next to his father, Duke Wilson, at approximately 2:56 p.m.

            Court documents say that Wilson and his father made their way into the Tunnel toward the police line and, at about 2:58 p.m., Wilson threw a water bottle at the police. By approximately 3:00 p.m., Wilson was standing directly in front of the police line, separated only by shields that the police officers were using to defend themselves. At that time, a rioter behind Wilson began to thrust a pipe toward the police. Wilson then grabbed the pipe and rammed it toward the police repeatedly and forcefully. Wilson then took steps to re-position himself and used the pipe to thrust near the heads and faces of the officers.

            The police then deployed OC spray, which hit Wilson. He then threw the pipe toward the police line, turned around, and exited the Tunnel.

            This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Portland and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – Michael Otis-Currie, 27, of Adelanto, California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 121 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for accessing and viewing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Acting Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Otis-Currie pleaded guilty on September 11, 2022. According to court documents, on October 1, 2020, an undercover law enforcement officer (“UC”) entered the “you.ngshare” KIK group, a group that was designed for members to discuss the sexual abuse of children, and to  trade child pornography. The UC continued to monitor activity in the group over the next several days. Between October 1, 2020 and November 17, 2020, approximately 400 users joined the “you.ngshare” group. On October 18, 2020, a user later identified as the defendant posted a link to the group that contained approximately 2,250 image and video files depicting the sexual abuse of children. Many of these videos depicted the rape and physical torture of several young children. The folder shared by the defendant also contained a subfolder entitled “Incest,” which contained approximately 250 additional videos and images depicting child erotica and child pornography.

            Otis-Currie was previously convicted in California in 2019 of possession or control of child pornography and was on supervised probation when he committed the instant offense. A law enforcement search of the defendant’s phone revealed additional saved video and image files depicting the sexual abuse of children. The defendant admitted that he was a member of different online groups in which child pornography was discussed and shared.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            This investigation also received valuable assistance from Los Angeles Field Office – Victorville Resident Agency. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Janani Iyengar and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Forman, of the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

            WASHINGTON – A mother and son from Tennessee were sentenced in the District of Columbia today on felony and misdemeanor charges related to their actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

            Eric Gavelek Munchel, 32, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth to 57 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. 

            Lisa Marie Eisenhart, 59, of Woodstock, Georgia, was sentenced by Judge Lamberth to 30 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

            Munchel and Eisenhart were both convicted of conspiracy to commit obstruction and obstruction of an official proceeding, both felonies, as well as entering and remaining in a gallery of Congress, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building on April 19, 2023, following a stipulated bench trial before Judge Lamberth.

            Munchel alone was also found guilty of two additional felonies: disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon (a Taser), and unauthorized possession of a deadly or dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds.

            According to the stipulated facts, Munchel and Eisenhart, both of whom were wearing tactical vests, entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to disrupt Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election. Munchel also carried a Taser holstered on his hip. As they approached the Capitol building, they saw other rioters fighting with police and encouraged them to do so.

            Munchel and Eisenhart observed police wearing body armor and using chemical irritants and gas to repel rioters like themselves but were not deterred. Instead, even though they were aware their actions were unlawful, they pushed forward, past police lines, and entered the Capitol building. Once inside, Munchel and Eisenhart made their way through the building to the Senate Gallery. Photos and video captured Munchel and Eisenhart carrying flexi-cuffs—plastic zip tie-style handcuffs—that they stole from a closet inside the Capitol.

            While inside the Senate and carrying the stolen restraints, Munchel and Eisenhart wondered aloud where the “traitors” and “cowards”—meaning the Senators—had gone. Later, both Munchel and Eisenhart gave statements to a reporter in which they acknowledged that their actions were intended to intimidate Congress.

            During the sentencing hearing, Judge Lamberth stated that it was clear from the defendants’ statements and actions on January 6^th that “they stole the flexi-cuffs and carried them into the Senate gallery because they intended to take senators hostage, if possible. Luckily, all of the senators and their staffs had already evacuated.”

            These cases were prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

            These cases were investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and FBI Memphis Field Office – Nashville Resident Agency. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.