Trump State Department Appointee Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison Over Capitol Riot
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
A former State Department official under former President Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to five years, 10 months in prison for waging “a relentless siege on police officers” during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Prosecutors said Federico Klein, 42 at the time of the riot, “repeatedly assaulted police officers, urged other rioters to join the fray, and tried to stop police from shutting entrance doors,” according to the Associated Press.
“Your actions on January 6th were shocking and egregious,” Judge Trevor McFadden told Klein during sentencing, adding, “You were front and center in that chaos.” Klein was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $2,000 more in restitution.
Klein served in the US Marine Corps and worked in the State Department’s office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs from 2017 until 2021, when he resigned “a day before Biden’s inauguration,” the AP reported.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 10 years in prison, after Klein was charged with 12 counts, including six assault charges. But his defense attorney Stanley Woodward alleged prosecutors exaggerated his client’s role in the insurrection.
“Accordingly, Mr. Klein should be sentenced for his actual role in the events of the day, and not the more egregious conduct of others with which the government would have Mr. Klein be found guilty by association,” Woodward wrote, according to the AP.
Klein stood trial in July with co-defendant Steven Cappuccio, also charged with assault and other offenses. The AP reported:
Klein and Cappuccio separately attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 before marching to the Capitol. Klein was in the first wave of rioters to enter the tunnel, according to prosecutors. They said he pushed hard against officers, telling them, “You can’t stop this!”
Klein also wedged a stolen police riot shield between two doors, preventing officers from closing them, prosecutors said. Video captured Klein encouraging other rioters to attack police, repeatedly yelling, “We need fresh people!”
More than 800 people have pleaded guilty or been convicted of charges relating to the Jan. 6 attack.
