East Texas veteran who assaulted police on Jan. 6 Capitol gets nearly 7 years in federal prison
Source: KYTX CBS 19
Author: Zak Wellerman
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — An East Texas veteran who assaulted police and brandished a crowbar at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison.
Ryan Taylor Nichols, of Longview, entered a guilty plea in November two felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting police. Because of his plea, he had avoided a more serious charge for spraying a large canister of pepper spray toward officers who were defending the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. On Thursday, he was sentenced to 64 months in prison and fined $200,000.
According to Jordan Fischer, a reporter at CBS19's sister station WUSA in Washington, D.C., the judge said Nichols did not cooperate with the financial portion of the presentencing investigation. He also raised more than $230,000 on a fundraising website titled "Free My Patriot Prisoner."
The Marine Corps veteran originally faced about roughly six-and-and-half-to-eight years, but a court ruling led to a way for his sentence to be reduced. Ahead of sentencing, the prosecution said that Nichols deserves 83 months, which is just a month shy of seven years.
Read more: https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/east-texas-veteran-who-assaulted-police-brandished-crowbar-on-jan-6-gets-nearly-7-years-federal-prison/501-a2e2a154-9ce4-43c9-9314-5ebb9db1ed42
