WASHINGTON ( Associated Press) – An elected official who is a central figure in a New Mexico district’s refusal to certify recent election results based on evaded conspiracy theories about voting machines, avoided more jail time on Friday because he joined the mob that attacked the American Capitol.
Couy Griffin, who founded the political group Cowboys for Trump, was sentenced to 14 days behind bars, which he has already served.
The punishment for Griffin’s role in the January 6, 2021 riot that delayed the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and sent legislators for their lives comes the same day that Griffin’s Republican-dominated district commission faces a deadline for his certify election results.
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Griffin entered a restricted area outside the Capitol, but did not enter the building itself.
Prosecutors are seeking an additional 70 days in jail for Griffin, who has already spent 20 days in jail before being released pending his trial. His lawyers only asked for a two-month trial period.
During the riot, he shouted his unfounded conviction that the election of then-President Donald Trump had been stolen, climbed on an upturned fence and another barrier to gain access to the Capitol stairs and used a bullhorn to greet the crowd in prayer. to lead.
A judge hearing evidence without a jury found Griffin guilty of an offense for illegally entering the restricted US Capitol grounds. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee, also acquitted Griffin of a charge of misconduct following a court hearing in March.
Griffin and his two other colleagues in the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico voted against certifying results of the state’s primary June 7 without raising specific concerns about differences. The state Supreme Court has since ordered the Conservative-minded commission to certify the results before a nationwide deadline Friday.
