Staff Report –

A New Jersey neo-Nazi Trump supporter who was one of the first insurrectionists to break into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — who testified under oath that he didn’t know Congress met there — was sentenced this week to four years in federal prison, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.

U.S. attorneys asked for more than six years for Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 32, but a federal judge ruled that his actions did not obstruct “the administration of justice” even though he was convicted by a jury in May of obstructing the official proceedings of Congress meeting to certify the 2020 Electoral College election results show Democrat Joe Biden as the winner and Republican Donald Trump as the loser.

Hale-Cusanelli worked as a security guard at Naval Weapons Station Earle and lived on the base in Colts Neck, N.J. where he openly supported Trump, admitted he was a white supremacist who supported Nazi ideology and admired Adolf Hitler, and even wore a “Hitler mustache” to work, the U.S. Department of Justice said in court filings.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, appointed to the bench by Trump, ruled that Hale-Cusanelli’s racist preferences were too prejudicial to present to a jury, though he did allow the defendant’s comments that he wanted a civil war to come into evidence.

Surveillance video showed Hale-Cusanelli climbing through a window on the Lower West Terrace at 2:13 p.m., moments after it was first smashed, wearing a gray suit and a red MAGA hat. Before entering, prosecutors said, he moved a bicycle rack barrier aside to enable crowds to get closer to the building, and then urged the mob forward by waving his arms and yelling, “Advance! Advance!”

Once inside, Hale-Cusanelli was part of a group that overwhelmed U.S. Capitol and D.C. police in the crypt. Photos and videos showed that he then attempted to pull a rioter away from a police officer who was in the process of trying to make an arrest.

He later claimed in testimony that he didn’t know the officer was a police officer, and that he thought the electoral vote certification “was going to be in a building called ‘Congress.’ As stupid as it sounds, I did not realize that Congress sat in the Capitol building.”

On Thursday, McFadden called that “a risible lie.” The judge had suggested to prosecutors that he would consider a request for a longer sentence for “obstruction of justice.” So the judge did increase his sentence for sworn statements.

Prosecutors sought two even longer sentencing enhancements for obstructing and interfering with the “administration of justice” at the Capitol. Defense attorney Nicholas D. Smith said that while Congress’s act of certifying the electoral college vote might qualify as an “official proceeding,” and all but one D.C. federal judge has agreed, the certification did not qualify as administration of justice. Prosecutors argued in their sentencing brief that the “’administration of justice’ is synonymous with ‘official proceeding.’ ”

Judge McFadden agreed with the defense. He said the electoral college count was “appreciably different” from the investigations and other justice-related actions of Congress.

“I don’t think the administration of justice, as used in the sentencing enhancement, is a fair way to describe what is happening here,” the judge said, reducing the sentencing guidelines range of 70 to 87 months down to 21 to 27 months. The guidelines are advisory, but judges typically issue sentences within the range. The Justice Department had requested 78 months.

McFadden blasted the defendant for his racist, sexist and antisemitic remarks, some of which were captured on a recording made by his roommate when Hale-Cusanelli returned to New Jersey after the riot. The judge repeated a profane taunt that Hale-Cusanelli shouted at a female Capitol Police officer during the riot, and criticized his “decision to lie on the witness stand.”

“Neither the jury nor I believed your claim that you didn’t know Congress resides in the Capitol building … you participated in a national embarrassment,” the judge said.

Though he had lowered the sentencing range to 21 to 27 months, McFadden sentenced Hale-Cusanelli to 48 months, followed by three years of supervised release.

The judge credited Hale-Cusanelli for showing remorse.

“My behavior that day was unacceptable and I disgraced my uniform and I disgraced the country,” Hale-Cusanelli said. He claimed he was “operating under the advice of counsel” when he testified about his confusion on where Congress sits. “I was challenging the law as it applied in my case.”

According to the government’s evidence, Hale-Cusanelli drove to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. He joined a mob of rioters that illegally breached a police line attempting to secure the Capitol grounds. He commanded others in the mob to “advance” on the Capitol, a command he continued once inside.

Hale-Cusanelli was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol Building, moving inside shortly after the breach that took place at 2:12 p.m. at the Senate Wing Door. He made harassing and derogatory statements toward Capitol Police officers, saying that a “revolution” was coming.

He remained in the building for approximately 40 minutes. Days after the incident, Hale-Cusanelli told a friend that being in the Capitol was “exhilarating,” he was hoping for a “civil war,” and that the “tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

At the time of the Capitol breach, Hale-Cusanelli was enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. Hale-Cusanelli worked as a contractor at a naval weapons station, where he had a “secret” security clearance, and has since been barred from the facility.

Hale-Cusanelli was arrested on Jan. 15, 2021. He was found guilty by a jury on May 27, 2022, of a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, and four related misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

At sentencing, the Court found that Hale-Cusanelli obstructed justice during the trial, when he made certain statements under oath, and applied an enhancement to the sentence. Following his prison term, Hale-Cusanelli will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

The case was investigated by the Northeast Field Office of the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI’s Newark and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 870 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 265 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

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