Jan. 6 Rioter Who Dragged Officer Fanone Into Mob Yelling ‘I Got One!’ Sentenced to 7.5 Years

A January 6 rioter who dragged former D.C. Metro Police Officer Michael Fanone into the mob has just been handed the second-longest sentence so far for any of the defendants in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, getting seven-and-a-half years behind bars.

Albuquerque Cosper Head, a 43-year-old construction worker from Kingsport, Tennessee, admitted he had assaulted the officer, grabbing him by the neck and yelling “I got one!” Head then dragged Fanone down the Capitol steps and into the crowd to be attacked with a stun gun, punched, and kicked, as the rioters tried to steal his service weapon from him. Fanone’s body camera footage captured a rioter threatening to kill him with his own gun, along with his own pleas for his life.

Head pled guilty in May. Prosecutors had called Head’s actions “some of the most barbaric violence on Jan. 6” and sought a 96-month sentence for Head, according to the New York Times; the sentence imposed by Federal District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson was just slightly lower at 90 months.

Jackson “excoriated Mr. Head from the bench,” reported the Times‘ Alan Feuer, and called the attack “horrific”:

Judge Jackson told Mr. Head that he had treated Mr. Fanone as his “prey” and as a “trophy” by bragging aloud as he grabbed the officer around his neck and essentially displayed him to the crowd.

“He was protecting the very essence of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power after a democratic election,” Judge Jackson said of Mr. Fanone. “He was protecting America.”

Fanone testified against Head on Thursday, urging the judge to impose a stiff sentence and blaming him for helping end his law enforcement career.

“Show Mr. Head the same mercy he showed me on January 6,” Fanone said. “None.”

Fanone acknowledged that he has gained some fame after the events of Jan. 6, but would trade all that back if he could have the chance to return to policing, an impossibility after the heart attack and other injuries he suffered during the riot.

According to MSNBC reporter Ryan Reilly, Head will get credit for the 18 months he has already spent behind bars.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.

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