The son of a New York City judge who stormed the US Capitol wearing a cute “caveman” outfit was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison.
US District Judge James Bosberg said Aaron Mostofsky was “literally on the front lines” in the January 6, 2021 mob attack.
“What you and others did that day left an indelible stain on how our country is perceived at home and abroad, and it cannot be undone,” the judge told Mostofsky, 35.
Read more: New York City judge’s son pleads guilty to Capitol mutiny charges
Bosberg also sentenced Mostofsky to one year of supervised release and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $2,000 in restitution.
Mostofsky sought mercy from the judge, saying he was embarrassed to have “contributed to the chaos of the day”.
“I feel sorry for the officers who had to deal with that chaos,” said Mostofsky, who will have to report to prison in about a month.
Mostofsky was carrying a walking stick and wearing a furry outfit when he joined the mob attacking the Capitol. He told a friend that the dress expressed his belief that “even a caveman” would know that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
Also on Friday, a federal judge agreed to postpone a trial in July for members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group accused of conspiring to coerce a peaceful transfer of power following President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. expressed.
The first jury trial for five of the nine sworn members charged with seditious conspiracy, including group founder Stewart Rhodes, is now set to begin on September 26 and is expected to last about a month. The second trial for the other four defendants is scheduled to begin on November 29.
US District Judge Amit Mehta agreed to give defense lawyers more time to prepare for trial, but indicated he was not willing to grant another delay. Some defense lawyers expressed concern about the potential impact if the congressional panel probing the January 6 riots released its report around the time of the first trial. Mehta said it would not cause another delay, “even if 435 members of Congress start reading from the report on the courthouse moves.”
More than 780 people have been indicted for federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 280 of them have confessed to their crime, most of them in rape cases.
Albuquerque Head, a Tennessee man, pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanon. Head drags Fanon into a mob of rioters, who beat him, shock him with a stun gun, and steal his badge and police radio. An Iowa man, Kyle Young, pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting Fanon, who was seriously injured by rioters and has since testified before Congress about the attack.
More than 160 defendants have been sentenced, including more than 60 who have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 days to five years and up to three months.
In Mostofsky’s case, federal sentencing guidelines recommended a prison sentence of 10 months to 16 months. Prosecutors recommended a 15-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release.
According to prosecutors, Mostofsky was one of the first rioters to enter the restricted area around the Capitol and one of the first to break into the building through the doors of the Senate wing. Prosecutors said he pushed against a police barrier that officers were trying to move and stole Capitol Police’s bulletproof vest and riot shield.
“Mostofsky cheered other rioters as they clashed with police outside the Capitol building, even celebrating with one of his fellow rioters,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Inside the building, Mostofsky pursued rioters who followed Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a staircase leading to the Senate chambers. When he exited the Capitol about 20 minutes after entering, he took the police vest and shield with him.
According to his lawyers, Mostofsky often wears costumes at events.
“To put things short, the New Yorker is quirky even by the standards of his home city,” he wrote.
A New York Post reporter interviewed him inside the Capitol during the riots. He told the reporter that he stormed the Capitol because “the election was stolen.”
Mostofsky has worked as an assistant architect in New York. His father, Steven Mostofsky, is a state court judge in Brooklyn.
“The fact that his father is a judge means he should have been better able than the other defendants to understand why the election fraud claims were false,” Justice Department prosecutor Michael Romano said.
Bosberg said that none of the supporting letters submitted by Mostofsky’s family and friends described how he “walked down this rabbit hole of the electoral imagination.”
“I hope you understand at this point that your indulging in that imagery has led to this tragic situation,” the judge said.
Aaron Mostofsky pleaded guilty in February to charges of civil disorder and theft of government property and misdemeanor charges of entering and living in a restricted building or grounds. Mostofsky was the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for civil disorder.
Mostofsky’s lawyers sought a sentence of home imprisonment, probation and community service. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith described Mostofsky as a “spectator” who “flowed with the crowd” and did not visit the Capitol to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power.
Smith said, ‘He did what he shouldn’t have done. “But there is a big difference between a thinker who is tempted to commit violence and someone who finds himself in a mob” doing bad deeds.
