Two Illinois sisters get probation after Capitol riot pleas

CHICAGO — Two Chicago-area sisters have been sentenced to 30 months of probation after pleading guilty to joining in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Federal prosecutors requested that Trudy Castle and Kimberly Difrancesco serve at least 30 days in jail, followed by 36 months of probation and 60 hours of community service.

But a federal judge in Washington, D.C., instead sentenced them Tuesday to probation and ordered each of them to pay $500 in restitution and a $2,000 fine, the Chicago Sun-times reported.

Castle, who said she manages a high-rise in downtown Chicago, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Difrancesco, who lives in Elmhurst and has a master’s degree in business, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Authorities said the women entered the Capitol through a Senate wing door on Jan. 6, 2021, made their way from the northwest side of the building to the elevator lobby near the Visitor Center and then walked through a security door.

The sisters then walked to the lower-level Visitor Center, where Difrancesco appeared to be talking on a handheld radio, authorities said. The sisters later exited the building and met up with a man federal officials identified as Castle’s adult son.