Kissimmee real estate agent charged with breaching US Capitol in 2021
A Kissimmee real estate agent who says he sells vacation homes near Walt Disney World is being charged for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 2021, according to federal court documents.
Matthew Montalvo, 45, is allegedly seen entering the Capitol around 2:30 p.m. wearing a black coat and tan backpack among a crowd of rioters that attempted to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory against then-President Donald Trump — an attack that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
Montalvo was arrested Tuesday in Kissimmee and is facing federal charges of entering a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.
Federal authorities said surveillance footage and a body cam video show Montalvo walking through the second floor of the Capitol for more than 25 minutes.
He was placed under investigation after a Federal
Bureau of Investigation task force officer obtained cellular records from Verizon through a search warrant that logs Montalvo using his phone from within the Capitol during the insurrection.
Witness testimony also claims Montalvo admitted to walking around the U.S. Capitol with others objecting to the 2020 election results, according to court records.
He is the latest in a growing list of Central Florida residents charged for storming the Capitol including, two former Central Florida police officers, a Sanford firefighter, a Treasure Coast charter boat captain, a Melbourne high school teacher and an Orlando actor who played Judas in a U.S. tour of the Broadway mega-hit “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Kevin Tuck, a Windermere police officer until his arrest, and his son Nathaniel Tuck, a former Apopka police officer, pleaded not guilty. Sanford firefighter Andrew Williams and Kenneth Reda, a former Viera High School teacher, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
According to online marketing material, Montalvo specializes in selling second-homes and vacation homes in upscale neighborhoods in Osceola County, like Champions Gate and Reunion, as well as in Kissimmee and Davenport in Polk County.
His company Home Sales Near Disney lists him as an agent with the international real estate company La Rosa Realty, based in Celebration. His name is not currently on the company’s website.
Representatives with Florida’s Real Estate Commission and Florida Department of Professional and Business Regulations did not respond to an inquiry about whether or not it will suspend Montalvo’s real estate license.
According to FREC’s website, agents who are convicted or found guilty of a crime in a jurisdiction that relates to the practice of, or the ability to practice, a licensee’s profession would serve as grounds for disciplinary action.
More than 780 people have been charged by federal prosecutors for their involvement in the insurrection, with Florida leading the nation in the number of people arrested, according to the latest analysis from George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.