A former West Virginia state lawmaker pleaded guilty on Friday to a felony related to the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot after he resigned over his participation in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The former official, identified as Derrick Evans, was just elected as a state delegate when he recorded himself and livestreamed his actions of pushing inside the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors said that, in the footage, Evans could be heard screaming his own name while joining other protesters.
Capitol Hill Insurrection
According to his plea agreement, the former state lawmaker said, "We're in, we're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!" Furthermore, prosecutors argue that Evans encouraged other people to siege the building at one point saying that if former Vice President Mike Pence betrayed them they would storm the Capitol.
The felony related to Evans, which is a civil disorder charge, could result in him receiving a sentence of up to five years in prison. However, it is highly unlikely that the former state lawmaker will be given the statutory maximum when he is finally sentenced in June, as per CNN.
Evans also agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution damage done to the Capitol building by the large mob of Trump supporters. Police authorities arrested the former West Virginia state lawmaker two days after the Capitol Hill riot, shortly before he stepped down from his seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
The 36-year-old Evans admitted on Friday that he committed and attempted to commit an act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of their duties during a civil disorder. United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Royce C. Lamberth accepted the former state lawmaker's guilty plea and set his sentencing for June 22.
According to NBC News, Evans faced five counts under a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury last year, which includes a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. Before storming the Capitol building, the former lawmakers posted a meme online that said, "FIGHT FOR TRUMP" and asked friends if they were heading to D.C.
Pleading Guilty
After the Capitol Hill riot, Evans initially tried to disguise his attendance at the protest as him being an "independent member of the media to film history." Authorities have charged more than 775 people in relation to the insurrection, 225 of whom have pleaded guilty. More than 50 were already sentenced to periods of incarceration.
Evans' guilty plea has him facing a maximum fine of $250,000 and supervised release of no more than three years. The agreement will result in several other charges against the former lawmaker being dropped. One of which could have led to a fine or no more than 20 years of imprisonment.
Previously, the suspect also faced four misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, Metro News reported.
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