By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former boxer charged with punching a Washington police officer in the head during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol faces a sentence of up to 51 months in prison after pleading guilty on Friday to two felony charges.
Scott Fairlamb, 44, of Stockholm, New Jersey, entered guilty pleas to charges of assaulting police and obstructing an official proceeding during the attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn his election defeat.
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said he would not sentence Fairlamb until he receives a pre-sentence report.
So far, one other Capitol riot defendant who pleaded guilty has been sentenced to serve an eight-month prison term, a law enforcement official said. A handful of defendants were sentenced to time served in pre-trial detention after pleading guilty.
In late July, Beryl Howell, chief federal judge in Washington, asked prosecutors to explain why a riot defendant was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor charge carrying a short prison sentence.
Harley Breite, Fairlamb’s defense lawyer, told Lamberth that Fairlamb was willing to talk with FBI investigators, but had not yet done so.
Breite told Reuters that after his arrest, Fairlamb had lost a gym business which he operated.
An FBI affidavit said a concerned citizen submitted a video showing Fairlamb “shove and punch” a police officer during the riot. Video submitted by another member of the public showed Fairlamb climbing on a metal scaffolding outside the building.
More than 535 people have been charged with taking part in violence when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Trump falsely claimed he lost the election because of widespread electoral fraud.
(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by Scott Malone and Raissa Kasolowsky)
