BREAKING: First Capitol Rioter To Be Found Guilty Gets The Slammer

Americans stormed the United States Capitol in protest during the so-called “riots” on Jan. 6. These patriots now have been rounded up and charged with felonies for their actions on that day.

Paul Allard Hodgkins, 38, was the first person charged with a felony to be sentenced.

During a court appearance, Hodgkins seemed to be pressured into apologizing for his patriotic actions on that day. He stated that he got merely caught up in the moment as the mob swarmed into the offices inside the Capitol to protest the election steal from Trump during the 2020 presidential election.

“If I had any idea that the protest … would escalate (the way) it did … I would never have ventured farther than the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue,” Hodgkins told the judge, The Associated Press reported. “This was a foolish decision on my part.”

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Hodgkins pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding, a felony that carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Prosecutors argued for an 18-month sentence, saying in one court filing that Hodgkins, “like each rioter, contributed to the collective threat to democracy” by forcing lawmakers to abort the certification of the newly elected president.

From the Associated Press:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky said that, while Hodgkins didn’t engage in violence himself, he walked among many who did — in what she called “the ransacking of the People’s House.” And as he walked by smashed police barriers, he could see the smoke of tear gas and the chaos ahead of him.

“What does he do?” she asked the court. “He walks toward it. He doesn’t walk away.”

She added that Hodgkins was in the midst of a mob that forced lawmakers to seek shelter and some congressional staffers to hide in fear, locked in officers as hundreds swept through the building. Those in fear for their lives that day will, she said, “bear emotional scars for many years — if not forever.”

Hodgkins was not accused of assaulting officers or damaging property, and prosecutors said he took responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty to the obstruction charge. But prosecutors also said when he boarded a bus heading to Washington, D.C., he was carrying a rope, protective goggles and latex gloves in a backpack, which they said meant he was prepared for violence.

But his lawyer urged the judge to go easy on Hodgkins, saying his actions will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Hodgkins’ actions on Jan. 6 “is the story of a man who for just one hour on one day lost his bearings … who made a fateful decision to follow the crowd,” said lawyer Patrick N. Leduc, who added that is a law-abiding citizen who routinely volunteered at a food bank.