A former Republican gubernatorial candidate just pleaded out his case.
Ryan Kelley pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for his role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
He could do as much as six months in prison for the plea.
The Deal
As part of the deal, his attorney stated that charges of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence against a person or property in any restricted building or grounds, and willful destruction of property will be dismissed.
Kelley made national headlines when he was arrested in June 2022.
The FBI had received tips that Kelley was present at the Capitol in mid-January 2021, which resulted in the investigation being opened.
The court documents state, “At approximately 1:30 p.m. on January 6, 2021, a video of the event that was posted online displays an individual wearing the aviator sunglasses and backward black baseball cap at about the 7-minute, 9-second mark.
“This indicates that KELLEY gathered near the entrance to the North Western scaffolding on the Western side of the U.S. Capitol. The individual with the sunglasses and baseball cap is pictured below.
“After causing the U.S. Capitol Police officers to retreat, the crowd climbed the stairs towards the entrance to the interior of the U.S. Capitol.
“At approximately 1:51 p.m., KELLEY moved towards the side of the nearby stairs and began to climb onto an architectural feature next to those stairs.
“In this publicly available news media image, KELLEY can be seen through the scaffolding on the stairs.
“Other members of the crowd are also identifiable.”
Kelley’s attorney maintains that his client never entered the building.
He also stated that even though his client may do jail time, pleading guilty to this “petty offense” was the best way to bring this case to a conclusion so his client could move on.
Source: Fox 17 Online
