WASHINGTON (AP) – A man who used a stolen riot shield to crush a police officer in a doorframe during the United States (US) Capitol insurrection was sentenced on Friday to more than seven years in prison for his role in one of the most violent episodes of the January 6 attack.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months for Patrick McCaughey III, which would have been the longest sentence for a Capitol riot case by more than five years.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced McCaughey to seven years and six months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. The judge described McCaughey, 25, as a “poster child of all that was dangerous and appalling about” the January 6, 2021, riot.
“Your actions are some of the most egregious crimes that were committed on that dark day,” the judge told McCaughey.
McCaughey, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, expressed shame for joining the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters who “violated” the Capitol.
“I’m sorry that I conducted myself less like a citizen and more like an animal that day,” he said.
The judge in McCaughey’s case convicted him of nine counts, including felony assault charges, after hearing trial testimony without a jury in September.
Nine people, including McCaughey, were charged together with joining one of the most brutal clashes at the Capitol.
