Submarine engineer pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, court records show.

Jeremy Baouche pleaded guilty Thursday before District Judge Christopher R. Cooper to a single count of h parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol Building, a misdemeanor according to the federal electronic court docket system.

Cooper scheduled Baouche sentencing hearing for Jan. 10, 2023. He faces up to 6 months in prison on the charge, according to the details of a plea agreement released by the Department of Justice.

The plea agreement with the government includes a provision allowing Baouche to be interviewed by law enforcement agents prior to his sentencing. He faces

Law enforcement charged Baouche with entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 with a mob of Donald Trump supporters who gathered to disrupt the vote certifying Joe Biden as president.

Days after the riot, FBI investigators received a tip that Baouche, a submarine engineer for Electric Boat with a “secret” level security clearance, had been among those who stormed the Capitol, according to court filings.

Baouche declined to speak with investigators when they tried to interview him at Electric Boat, court documents stated.

But the company provided investigators with Baouche’s internet search history from his work computer — along with documentation showing he had been notified his activity on the device would be monitored, the court filings show.

“In Baouche’s search history, there were searches on topics, including the inauguration, the U.S. Capitol building layout, guns, rifle scopes, lasers, Trump protests, FBI Capitol, and searches for jobs in the western U.S. It should be noted that Baouche has a secret security clearance as part of his employment,” a Norwich police detective and member of an FBI task force wrote in a charging document.

Baouche is the latest of more than a half-dozen Connecticut residents to plead guilty in connection with the riot.

In April, a mother and daughter from Canterbury accused of entering the Capitol building together were both sentenced to a combination of house arrest and probation. The mother, 57-yearold Jean Lavin, was also sentenced to 10 days of confinement over the course of five weekends.

The trial of Patrick McCaughey III, a Ridgefield resident accused of pinning a police officer in a door frame at an entrance to the Capitol, is scheduled to begin next week.