A US justice has sentenced the man who entered the office of then Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi during the storming of the Capitol in January 2021 to four and a half years in prison.
Judge Christopher Cooper, in a federal court in Washington DC, sentenced Richard Barnett on eight counts, including obstruction of official proceedings, entering a restricted building with weapons and theft of government property. Judge Cooper’s sentence is less than that requested by prosecutors, who asked that he be sent to prison for 7 years.
In court documents explaining the case, government lawyers noted that a photo of Barnett feet up on Pelosi’s desk “circulated widely” online becoming one of the “most well-known images of that day, symbolizing how the looters had taken control”.
The Arkansas native also allegedly tried to “monetise his popularity and criminal conduct” by selling autographed photos of himself