'Done with politics,' ex-Raiford corrections officer gets probation for part in Capitol riot

A former Raiford prison guard fired for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol will spend three years on probation, a federal judge in Washington said Friday.

“I don’t give a lot of probationary sentences,” U.S. District Senior Judge Thomas F. Hogan told Jonathan Daniel Carlton, who has moved to Baldwin in western Duval County since losing his job at the Union Correctional Institution.

Carlton, 46, could have been jailed for up to six months after pleading guilty in March to a single misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

But the judge said he was convinced Carlton hadn’t personally committed any violence, had some remorse and was working diligently to support his children with jobs he’s landed as a handyman.

Jail time wouldn’t help Carlton’s family, the judge said at one point in an hourlong sentencing hearing that weighed factors including Carlton’s responsibility as a corrections officer to uphold the law.

“As a law enforcement officer, he knew better and he chose to do this,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Carter told the judge after recounting how Carlton and a companion moved through a crowded area where an irritant like tear gas was wafting outside the Capitol in order to reach an entrance the crowd had breached. Carter asked for Carlton to be locked up for three months.

Carlton’s companion, Baker County resident Bradley Weeks, is awaiting trial on charges that include a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding, the meeting of Congress where President Joe Biden’s election victory over former President Donald Trump was certified.

Carlton told the judge he had been "humbled" by events since the riot and was glad for church friends who had helped him restart his life after losing a job he'd expected to be a career. "I'm just done with politics," he said.

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After Carlton’s attorney, Richard Landes, said that the riot “was not an accident” and resulted from planning and false statements by people including Trump and key members of Congress, Hogan said he remains profoundly troubled by the events that day.

“It’s hurt our country immensely and it’s going to take years to get over it,” said the judge, who pointed out that more than 100 police officers were injured in the riot and that several committed suicide soon after.

Hogan said he thinks about whether people who are dissatisfied after the next election will try again to stop the peaceful transition of power.

He said that’s a reason that Carlton’s probation will last for three years, until well after the 2024 elections.

“If you lose control of yourself again, if you … follow false gods, false statements ... you’ll end up back here,” the judge said.

The probation could involve a probation officer visiting Carlton’s home, so the judge said the guns that Carlton handed over when he was arrested will remain on government custody until the probation is completed. Like others who’ve entered plea deals, Carlton was also told to pay $500 toward riot costs and damage to the Capitol, which the judge said has been priced between $1.7 million and $2.5 million.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 'Humbled' ex-Raiford prison guard avoids jail over U.S. Capitol riot