Former Capitol Police Officer in Home Detention Over Jan. 6 Rioter Case

• Former Capitol Police officer allegedly helped Jan. 6, 2021, rioter to avoid charges
• Michael A. Riley exchanged messages with the rioter
• Riley's lawyer tries to negotiate the sentence

A former United States Capitol Police officer was sentenced to home detention after he allegedly helped Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill rioter avoid charges.

The individual was known to have exchanged messages with the rioter in the weeks following the unprecedented incident. He later deleted the messages after he learned that authorities were investigating him.

Forme Capitol Police Officer Sentenced to Home Detention

The 51-year-old Capitol Police officer, Michael A. Riley, has worked for the force for 25 years. He responded to the insurrection with his K-9 partner to address two pipe bombs left outside the Democratic and Republican headquarters.

Furthermore, Riley provided medical assistance to another officer who was injured during the storming of the Capitol. The defendant's lawyer cited his client's spotless career with Capitol Police as a factor for U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to consider imposing probation, per the Washington Post.

On the other hand, prosecutors were looking for at least 27 months in prison for his supposed crime. However, Jackson was determined to hold the defendant accountable for his actions in the two weeks following the insurrection and for his testimony last fall.

At the time, Riley claimed that he did not know that deleting his messages was a crime. But the judge told him, "I don't know if you were lying or just believed the story you were telling. But it wasn't credible."

The former Capitol Police officer was found to have struck up a conversation with a Virginia Beach fishing boat captain identified as Jacob Hiles shortly before the insurrection. He reasoned that he liked Hiles' videos and posts about fishing.

Helping a Jan. 6 Rioter Avoid Charges

After the riot, Riley told Hiles he was a Capitol Police officer who agreed to the fishing boat captain's political stance. According to NBC News, the officer told the rioter to take down posts that acknowledged Hiles being inside because authorities were charging all of the people who went inside.

Officials convicted Riley for deleting his messages with Hiles after learning that the fishing boat captain had been speaking with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). However, the jury in the case did not determine whether the former Capitol Police officer's initial messages to Hiles were unlawful.

The officer's home detention period will be served as part of two years of probation. On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Howland said in court that Riley's actions were considered a "fundamental betrayal" of the defendant's oath. He claimed that the former Capitol Police officer did not hold the line during the insurrection.

While in court, Ruley's voice could be heard cracking as he lamented how his "awful judgment" led him to lose his career, smothered his reputation, ended many of his friendships in the department, and even traumatized him his family, said Fox News.