Sacramento Republican activist pleads guilty in Capitol Riot plea deal

SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Republican activist and Jan. 6 capitol riot defendant Jorge

Aaron Riley pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single felony count of obstructing an official proceeding, making Riley the third of four area residents to accept plea deals related to the insurrection.

Riley, 45, had faced a five-count indictment that charged him with disorderly conduct, entering a restricted area and demonstrating in a Capitol building, stemming from his actions during the riot when he allegedly entered thenhouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta set sentencing for Sept. 6.

“Obstruction of an official proceeding carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as potential financial penalties,” the Justice Department said in a news release following the plea. “A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”

Riley was arrested Jan.

19, 2021, in Sacramento after returning home following the Capitol

Riot, which erupted when protesters supporting thenpresident Donald Trump unsuccessfully attempted to halt the Electoral

College certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

During the riot, Riley entered the Capitol along with other protesters, then bragged about his actions in a video interview later posted online, according to an FBI affidavit.

“We breached over there I think,” the affidavit quotes him as saying. “We broke windows, we went into the door, we pushed our way in, and then we just kept going further and further. … We went into, there was like a corridor building.

“We pushed our way to Nancy Pelosi’s office ... and then we were sitting in there yelling ‘f--- you, Nancy Pelosi.”