A federal judge this week ordered the prison release of a Sacramento, California, man who breached the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots, as a defense attorney sought to vacate his sentence under a recent Supreme Court decision narrowing the scope of a charge hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants face.
Jorge Riley, a 46-year-old Army veteran and former corresponding secretary of the California Republican Assembly, pleaded guilty March 7, 2023, to a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding, which was the charge under question by the highest court. In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this charge should only apply to destroying or attempting to destroy “records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding,” which a defense attorney said Riley never did.
D.C. Circuit Judge Judge Amit P. Mehta has not yet ruled on whether the motion to vacate should be granted. But Riley, who has just four months left of his 18-month sentence, will be released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc as Mehta decides if his sentence should be vacated, according to an order issued Monday by Mehta.
“Mr. Riley did not violate the law as it has been interpreted by the Supreme Court,” defense lawyer Tim Zindel wrote in his motion to vacate, while citing the Supreme Court decision, Fischer v. United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. has until Thursday to file a response. A spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday seeking information about their position on the case.
A combination of “circumstances” has made the sentence Riley served “plainly unfair” because he did not commit any violent or destructive acts, the motion said. Riley was among the first to break into the Senate; he walked around with protesters and took selfies, Zindel wrote.
Prosecutors said Riley declared, “Joe Biden IS NOT MY PRESIDENT” leading up to his trip to D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. He brought six ninja combat throwing knives, declaring “I’m going to war,” according to The Sacramento Bee’s previous reporting.
Zindel disputed his client brought weapons with him to Washington, D.C., according to previous reporting.
Riley streaked his face with what he called “war paint” and marched into the U.S. Capitol as one of the first people to enter its grounds. He walked into then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and refused to leave as police officers ordered, according to previous reporting.
But Riley never attacked any police officer, the defense lawyer said.
“We hope they agree that the conviction should be vacated and then we can all decide how to move forward,” Zindel said Wednesday. “Jorge is a good and honorable man and only asks that he be treated with fairness.”
Two other Sacramento-area men were also charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riots.
Sean Michael McHugh, who used bear spray on police officers and encouraged rioters onward with a megaphone, was sentenced in September 2023 to 61/2 years in prison. He was a construction worker in Auburn.
McHugh, 37, also got three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol.
No motions have been filed in McHugh’s case as he remains imprisoned at Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson.
Tommy Frederick Allan, who scaled the Capitol on a rope and stole an American flag and documents from the Senate chamber, was sentenced in December 2022 to 21 months in prison and three years probation. He was also ordered to pay a $100 fine and $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol.
Allan, 56, was released from prison in May, according to previous reporting.
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