Defense attorney alleges 'politics' has a role in Capitol riot sentences

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A father and son from South Jersey want a judge to impose $50 fines for their actions in the U.S. Capitol riot.

A defense attorney for David and Nicholas Krauss argues they should pay the same price as a woman who disrupted a Senate hearing for then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in October 2018.

“The only difference between the nonviolent January 6 protesters and the nonviolent Kavanaugh protesters is politics,” the lawyer, Marina Medvin of Virginia, wrote in sentencing memoranda for the men.

A prosecutor said the Krausses, along with a friend who accompanied them in the Capitol, should be sentenced “based on their own conduct and relevant characteristics.”

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But the judge also “should give substantial weight to the context of their unlawful conduct: their participation in the January 6 riot,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolina Nevin.

Her sentencing memorandum noted the men entered the Capitol “very close in time to the initial breach, and they were inside the Crypt as the mass of rioters overran the police who were trying to bar further entrance into the building.”

Detention sought for David, Nicholas Krauss and Russell Dodge Jr.

Nevin requested home detention of 90 days for David Krauss, 56, of Sewell, and 75 days for his son, Nicholas Krauss, 32, of Pitman.

She asked for 90 days of home detention for the third man, Russell Dodge Jr., 40, of Pedricktown.

An attorney for Dodge has requested a one-year probationary term for his client.

The three men, who were arrested in November 2022, pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

In her filings, Medvin asserted the prosecution’s “broad-brush” view of the January 2021 riot “ignores the particularized perspective of the individuals in the crowd who came to protest lawfully but who followed the crowd into an unlawful demonstration inside of the Capitol.”

She said the men engaged in no violence or vandalism while spending about 16 minutes in the Capitol’s hallways, and that they obeyed law enforcement officers who told them to leave the building.

But the prosecution’s filing countered, “When they entered, there was broken glass from the windows on the floor, and the alarm was sounding."

It also said the absence of vandalism or violence “is not a mitigating factor” for misdemeanor defendants.

Photos show defendants' lives, images of rioters

Medvin’s filings include multiple photos of David Krauss, a father of two and grandfather of five, and Nicholas Krauss, whose second child was born in June.

The men operate a home construction and repair business that was founded by the father, who is also a landlord.

Dodge is a landlord with almost 40 housing units, according to a court filing.

But each of Medvin’s filings also included more than 20 pages, also with photos, that alleged more lenient treatment was afforded to people arrested at the Kavanaugh hearings and at disturbances that followed Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

“This wildly inequitable and disparate treatment is inexplicable in any way other than political bias,” said Medina, whose website identifies her as a member of the Republican Natonal Lawyers Association.

The South Jersey men are to be sentenced Friday, Sept. 15, by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C.

The prosecution also is seeking 60 hours of community service for each defendant.

The men have already paid $500 each in restitution for damage caused by rioters.

The prosecution requested a shorter term of home detention for Nicholas Krauss because he has expressed remorse, Nevin said.

She noted the son had written in a letter to the judge, “If I knew what was going to take place that day I would have never left my house.”

Nevin said David Krauss had shown “weak remorse” and Dodge had expressed none.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: David and Nicholas Krauss want to pay a fine for Capitol riot actions