A Proud Boy member, who also served as a Miami-Dade County Republican Executive Committee member, was sentenced to four years in prison for taking part in the Capitol riot back on Jan. 6, 2021.
“You were part of a 100-man-strong fighting force that circled the Capitol,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said on Thursday while imposing the sentence against Gilbert Fonticoba.
Fonticoba, who is a single father said to look after the well-being of his elderly mother, tried to secure a softer prison sentence of five months.
His defense tried to argue for leniency for Fonticoba, who is purportedly undertaking a "long process of de-radicalization" from political extremism.
ALSO READ: How Trump's campaign visits cost local police departments
Federal prosecutors say that Fonticoba was a member of the Vice City chapter of the Proud Boys, founded in Miami, since 2019, and "participated in a coordinated effort to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6, 2021" according to their release.
The chapter was founded by former Proud Boys national chairman Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, who also was sentenced by Judge Kelly to 22 years in prison.
The feds describe Fonticoba as trailing behind Proud Boys leaders Joe Biggs and Ethan Nordean when on Jan. 6 they wrecked a bike rack barricade that overwhelmed police officers had tried to use to keep the massive crowd of election deniers at bay.
With tears in his eyes, Fonticoba spoke in a plea for mercy from Judge Kelly.
“I have brought shame upon my family through my actions on Jan. 6,” he said, according to WUSA.
