Jan. 6 rioter accused of stealing from Pelosi’s office sentenced to more than 4 years in prison
A Chicago man who went inside former Speaker Pelosi’s office and stole a prized photograph and the wallet of one her staffers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol, was sentenced Friday to over four years in prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Kevin Lyons, 40, to four years and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to court records. This is a few months shorter than the federal prosecutors’ recommended sentence of four years and eight months, according to a sentencing memo filed earlier this month.
The memo details the moments during the “Stop the Steal,” rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6., where Lyons, an HVAC technician, recorded a video of himself and the scene around him using a cell phone.
Federal prosecutors said despite tear gas and what was assumed to be a flash bang grenade, Lyons pushed towards the Capitol with the crowd, chanting “Whose house? Our house!”
Lyons went into the Capitol through the Senate wing door, where he yelled out “Nancy, where are you?” before entering Pelosi’s office suites and her private office. There, he took a wallet from a congressional staffer’s coat and a framed photograph with late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), according to the court documents.
The sentencing memo states the framed photo of Pelosi and Lewis during a 2019 visit to Africa was a gift from Lewis to mark their last trip abroad together.
While in Pelosi’s office, Lyons also took a picture of the speaker’s wooden name plate mounted over the door and posted it on his Instagram, where he earlier posted a photo of his driving route from Chicago to Washington,D.C., according to the memo.
Just under 20 minutes later, Lyons left the Capitol in an Uber, during which he photographed himself with the photo of Pelosi and Lewis, according to the memo. Federal prosecutors said Lyons later texted his friends a picture of the photograph, admitting he took the photo. “He then bragged, ‘I’m pretty confident I am now a multiple Federal felon.”
The complaint also said Lyons also heckled a group of United States Capitol Police, calling them Nazis and “oath breakers.”
Days later on Jan. 11, 2021, FBI agents interviewed Lyons at his home after they received a tip about his involvement in the Capitol riot. Lyons eventually handed over the photos and videos he took during the insurrection to the FBI.
Two days after the interview, Lyons was arrested on a criminal complaint and was convicted of six federal charges earlier this year.
The Associated Press reports Lyons wasn’t charged with theft of the photograph, but acknowledged in a court filing that he took it and the staffer’s wallet.
Court records show the judge also ordered Lyons to pay a $2,000 restitution and a $180 total special assessment, both of which match the prosecutions’ recommendations.
In a defendant sentencing memo filed in early July, his lawyers stated Lyons “knows his conduct was wrong and he is ashamed of what he has done.”
The judge is allowing Lyons to remain free until he reports to prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: The Hill
