WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 defendant who smashed a Capitol window with an ice axe and giant cardboard tube before using a bullhorn to instruct rioters on how to “take” the building — and who recently received a personalized hat from former President Donald Trump — was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Tuesday.
Rachel Powell, a Pennsylvania woman in her early 40s, mother of eight and grandmother of six, was convicted on nine federal counts back in July after a bench trial.
In emotional comments during her sentencing, Powell said she didn’t want there to be any doubt about what she thought of what she did.
“I am deeply ashamed of my conduct,” she said. “I regret it, and it will never happen again.”
Federal prosecutors sought eight years in federal prison for Powell, who ultimately received 57 months, saying she developed an “obsession with keeping former President Trump in power” after his 2020 election loss, and that she even “conducted surveillance at a female legislator’s home” before taking part in the Capitol attack.
After pushing against a police line at the Capitol, summoning other rioters to join her and others and smashing the window on Jan. 6, 2021, Powell used a bullhorn to try to bring order to the chaos. “People should probably coordinate together if you’re going to take the building,” Powell yelled.
In the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6, she said it “WAS F–KING WAR TO GET IN,” that rioters “weren’t f–king welcomed in” and that police “had to retreat into the building and fight back because patriots were relentless.” But she changed her tune since, prosecutors noted, and has painted a picture of police brutality.
Powell has been on home detention since she violated her pre-trial conditions of release.
Powell said at her sentencing Tuesday that she feels remorse and regret every day.
“My conduct was disgraceful,” Powell said. “I apologize to my family for the hell they have endured because of me.”
Powell said politics had taken “a very dark turn” in the country and that she gave into the toxic environment.
“I succumbed to those feelings and it led to disaster,” she said.
Judge Royce Lamberth said Powell “said all the right things today,” but he wished she had said those things sooner.
The judge said that Powell “skated along for a long time” even with her violations of her pretrial release conditions, but he would allow her to surrender after the holidays, just before the three-year anniversary of her crimes.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
