Federico Klein, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who former President Donald Trump had politically appointed to the State Department, was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison on his conviction on eight felonies and related misdemeanors in connection with charges that he tried to storm the Capitol and assaulted law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021 protests.
Federal officials had sought 10 years in prison for Klein, who was convicted by U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, another Trump appointee, after a bench trial in July, but the judge instead sentenced Klein to five years and 10 months, reported NBC News.
The prosecution argued that Klein was "likely motivated by a personal benefit — namely, continued employment as a political appointee — when he attacked the U.S. Capitol."
The prosecution cited messages Klein had sent before the protests when he said, "Hell yea I'm going. I'm a Trump appointee" as well as his decision to take time off from work at the State Department to "volunteer to travel to Las Vegas" to investigate claims of mass voter fraud being made by the Trump campaign.
Prosecutors said that at one point during the Jan. 6 protests, Klein had yelled, "You can't stop this!" during attacks in the Lower West Terrace at the U.S. Capitol, the site of some of the worst violence of the day.
At another time, the prosecution said that 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."
Klein was represented in court by attorney Stanley Woodward, the lawyer representing other Trump aides involved in federal investigations involving the former president.
More than 1,100 people have been arrested in connection with the events of Jan. 6, with more than 400 being sentenced to prison.
The longest sentence so far was imposed on former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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