California gym owner sentenced to 2 years probation after storming U.S. Capitol
A Victorville male observed storming the Capitol creating alongside with hundreds of other supporters of former president Donald Trump was sentenced to two yrs of probation and group support last week.
Jacob Lewis, 38, who owned a conditioning facility in Victorville that resisted statewide orders to close all through the COVID-19 pandemic, agreed to plead guilty in January to a single misdemeanor demand of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol.
Prosecutors dropped numerous other costs, which include violent entry into the Capitol and disorderly carry out in a restricted setting up, as a end result of the deal.
Lewis could have been sentenced to up to 6 months in jail and five a long time of probation for the 1 picketing demand. In accordance to court docket paperwork, a judge sentenced him to just 24 months of probation, 60 hrs of neighborhood assistance, a $3,000 high-quality, and $500 restitution.
Lewis owned The Gym in Victorville. In Could 2020, he mentioned on his Instagram account that he was refusing to shut down, in defiance of Governor Gavin Newsom’s orders for non-important businesses to near amid a wave of coronavirus infections.
By Jan. 6, 2021, Lewis was putting up footage on Instagram from inside of the Capitol developing. Protection camera footage confirmed Lewis jammed with hundreds of others as they stormed via it.
The FBI contacted him a several times later on, right after a buddy of Lewis despatched them a suggestion about his involvement in the assault on the Capitol, which include details indicating he knew what might take place on Jan. 6.
According to court docket files, the mate advised the FBI that during a conversation in December 2020, Lewis stated to them, “watch what happens to the Capitol on the 6th.”
Lewis agreed to an interview with the FBI on Jan. 15. He explained to brokers he did not take part in any violence, proclaiming that “Antifa members” had been the ones agitating between the crowd to assault law enforcement.
Statements that anti-fascist groups have been in the crowd built up overwhelmingly of Trump supporters has continuously been established wrong. Federal investigators have said that quite a few in the crowd ended up either specifically linked to much-ideal extremist groups or were inspired to dedicate violence by them.