First rioter to breach Capitol on J6 sentenced to more than four years in prison

The first demonstrator to breach the Capitol during the January 6 riot was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly four and a half years in federal prison.

Michael Sparks of Kentucky was found guilty of six charges by a grand jury in March. The charges include interfering with police and obstructing Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. 

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly sentenced Sparks to 53 months in prison, NBC News reported.

“I am an American citizen who believes to this day that we are in tyranny,” Sparks told the judge during his sentencing. Sparks added that he still believes the 2020 election was stolen. 

Kelly told Sparks that he can believe whatever he wants, but that it does not give him the right to storm the United States Capitol building.

“I don’t really think you appreciate the full gravity of what happened that day and frankly the full seriousness of what you did,” Kelly said. "A lot of us would like to see our country grapple with different challenges differently ... What happened on Jan. 6 just cannot happen again." 

"What a dangerous precedent Jan. 6 set. What a Pandora's box it opened."

The 53-month sentence is notably larger than the 15-21 months federal guideline. But Kelly claimed the gravity of the riot deserved a higher sentence than the guidelines. Prosecutors sought a 57-month sentence.

Sparks was reportedly the first rioter to breach the capitol, after Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola forced a capitol window open. When Sparks entered the building, he met U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Victor Nichols, who urged Kelly to hold Sparks accountable for setting off a "chain reaction," according to The Hill.

Kelly agreed that Sparks's actions emboldened the rest of the rioters to also storm the Capitol complex. 

More than 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot, and more than 1,000 of them have been convicted. The highest sentence imposed so far has been 22 years in prison, which Kelly imposed on former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.