(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/17/2023) Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper also ordered Kelley to spend one year on probation and to pay a $5,000 fine.
Kelley, 42, of Allendale, was initially charged in 2022 with four misdemeanors, but he pleaded guilty in July to a single count of entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority.
Prosecutors recommended that Kelley receive three months in prison because he had a “troubling lack of remorse for his actions,” but his attorney sought a probation-only sentence.
In addition, federal prosecutors said Kelley posted statements on Facebook and other social media “making light of the riot, falsely denying that any violence took place, and insisting that he engaged in no wrongdoing.” As an example, the government cited a June 30, 2021, post that read “Jan 6 in Wash DC was not an insurrection. Zero nukes, F-15’s or any weapons, one guy did have an assult [sic] pencil tho it remained unused.”
