Ex-schools therapist who rioted on Jan. 6 gets 15-month sentence
WASHINGTON — The thirty minutes that Christine Priola of Willoughby spent inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot will cost the former Cleveland schools occupational therapist 15 months in prison, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
“This was nothing but an attempt to overthrow the government ... by people who were upset their guy lost,” said United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan, who said protesters at the riot were “loyal to one man,” not the country at large. “There is no mob without members of the mob.”
Priola, 50, pleaded guilty in July to charges of obstruction of an official proceeding. She also agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol for her share of the approximately $1.5 million in damages caused by the riot. She is among at least 53 Ohioans charged for their roles in a riot meant to stop Congress from counting Electoral College votes that would certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Priola’s lawyer, Charles E. Langmack, asked the court to give her a sentence under 15 months and a short-term of probation. He urged Chutkan to consider that Priola did no harm while in the Capitol, that the likelihood of her reoffending is “virtually non-existent,” that she had no negative interactions with law enforcement and cooperated with investigators. He said she had no prior criminal record and her behavior at the U.S. Capitol was out of character.
“She will forever be sorry for this, she has expressed that to me a million times,” Langmack said as Priola sat beside him, sniffling behind a surgical mask with her hands clasped together. “We ask that you consider the entirety of her character and not just that day.”
Prosecutors asked Chutkan to sentence Priola to 18 months of incarceration and said doing so “would reflect the gravity of Priola’s conduct but also acknowledge her early admission of guilt.”
Prosecutors said Priola traveled by chartered bus from Willoughby on Jan. 6 and made her way to the U.S. Capitol grounds while carrying a large sign reading, “WE THE PEOPLE TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY” on one side and “THE CHILDREN CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE” on the other side.
She entered the U.S. Capitol building at approximately 2:49 p.m. that day through its East Rotunda doors, within minutes of the first protesters overcoming police who guarded the entrance.
She spent around 10 minutes on the U.S. Senate floor, where she took cell phone videos, photographs, and made telephone calls, including one to tell a friend outside the building, “Everybody has to get in here now. This is now or never.” She left the U.S. Capitol at around 3:09 p.m., telling one associate that she had been pepper sprayed.
Prosecutors said Priola destroyed evidence by deleting photos, videos, chats and messages from her phone after the riot. They said that any rioter who entered the Capitol should have known better because they’d have had to cross through numerous barricades, smell chemical irritants and observe extensive fighting with police.
They played seven videos that other rioters took during the breach of the Capitol, which showed Priola in the thick of the mob. Outside the building, she could be seen in the midst of crowds chanting “Stop the Steal,” “USA,” and “Trump.” Her sign was visible as its doors were forced open. She was shown at a window, eagerly waving her sign at outside demonstrators, entering the Senate chamber, and excitedly speaking to a friend on the telephone.
“The seriousness of this offense cannot be overstated,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jolie Zimmerman said, as she pointed out that Priola’s actions enabled other rioters to get into the building, and showed a lack of respect for the law, Congress, and the Constitution.
Priola wrote a letter to the Judge to extend her “sincerest apologies to all the people at the Capitol that day, to their families and to the citizens of the United States. My behavior was unacceptable, illegal and shameful.”
The letter said she quit her job as an occupational therapist for Cleveland schools after the riot, gave up her house in Willoughby, and moved into her mother’s basement. It described how she spends her days helping elderly relatives with household tasks and ferrying them to medical appointments.
She said she should have known better than to participate in the riot and should have thought about how her actions would affect the people in and around the building, the country, her daughter and her family.
“I do not like it when people break the law or take the law into their own hands,” she wrote. “I do not want people out there acting like morons. I was one of those morons. I caused great harm to others and it caused a ripple effect that I could never undo.”
Priola told Chutkan that watching the videos was “horrifying” for her and she felt almost as if she didn’t know the person in them. She described herself as someone who tries to love her neighbors and said she failed miserably that day. She described her actions as irrational and uncivilized and said she didn’t think about how her behavior would affect the nation, Congress, law enforcement or her family.
When Chutkan asked her to explain the signage she carried to the Capitol, Priola said she was concerned that Democrats would try to reverse actions Trump took to fight human trafficking, and that she believed at the time that the election had been stolen. She told Chutkan she wants to “make amends for what I have done in any way possible.”
“I really messed up,” she said as she apologized to the court.
Chutkan said she’s handled multiple criminal cases that stemmed from the riot, and said Priola is one of the few defendants who have acknowledged the harm done that day. But she said Priola was one of relatively few rioters who violated the “sacrosanct” U.S. Senate chamber and observed that she appeared to be enjoying herself in the midst of the lawless mob.
“I believe you are sincere in your regret,” Chutkan said. “I am wondering if you’d be feeling this regret if you hadn’t been charged with a crime.”
CASES CALLED INCLUDED:
■ Steven W. Harrison, 51, of Miamisburg, OH, domestic violence, continued, PD appointed, no contact/not to be 500 feet 155 Elm St., bond $2,500.
■ Sidney J. Jacobs II, 32, of New Carlisle, OH, jail reimposed, guilty, jail reimposed, guilty.
■ Doreen M. Payne, 71, of 337 Chestnut, Apt. 104, violation of protection order, continued, bond $15,000.
■ Dakota W. Whitt, 30, of 2151 Hoppes Ave., assault, innocent, continued, bond $10,000.
■ Dakota W. Whitt, 30, of 2841 Oletha St., theft, innocent, continued, bond $10,000.
■ Trevor D. Crockran
Jr., 20, of 2144 Hillside
Ave., felonious assault, dismissed - indicted.
■ Jack D. Shapland, 24, of Mount Sterling, OH, OVI, continued, refer to DIP, assured clear distance, dismissed.
■ Juan A. Green, 46, of Columbus, OH, theft, continued, bond changed to “no bond”.
■ Juan A. Green, 46, of Columbus, OH, criminal damaging, continued, bond changed to “no bond”.
■ Janeal J. Hillard, 20, of 1618 S. Limestone
St., possess drug abuse instrument, bench warrant ordered.
■ Louis K. Primous, 63, of 2258 Ontario, OVI, bench warrant ordered, DUS, bench warrant ordered, speed, bench warrant ordered, operating without use all s/b, bench warrant ordered.
■ Louis K. Primous Jr., 63, of 2258 Ontario, theft, bench warrant ordered, theft, bench warrant ordered, receiving stolen property, bench warrant ordered, possession of criminal tools, bench warrant ordered.