Eric Munchel, Nashville's 'zip-tie guy,' gets one of longest sentences for January 6 riot at Capitol

Eric Munchel, the Nashville man known as "zip-tie guy," has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced Munchel and his mother and codefendant Lisa Eisenhart at the U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday.

Lamberth sentenced Munchel to 57 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release, said U.S. District Court Judicial Clerk Jason Onyediri. Lamberth gave Eisenhart, from Woodstock, Georgia, a lesser sentence of 30 months of incarceration with the same three years of supervised release, her attorney Greg Smith of Washington said. Smith said both Munchel and Eisenhart were also ordered to pay $2,000 each in restitution.

Munchel's sentence is among the longest of more than 1,000 Jan. 6 defendants. He received the maximum sentence prosecutors calculated under federal guidelines.

Prosecutors say on Jan. 4, 2021, Munchel and Eisenhart drove from Nashville, where Munchel worked as a bartender, to Washington to participate in election protest rallies scheduled for Jan. 5-6.

They arrived at the Capitol on Jan. 6 wearing tactical vests, while Munchel also wore a Taser holstered at his hip and his cell phone mounted on his chest. Munchel’s cell phone recorded a 50-minute video that captured most of their approach and entry to the Capitol building, which prosecutors used as evidence in their case against the pair.

Once inside the Capitol, Munchel and Eisenhart found zip ties that they carried around, which prosecutors argued they planned to use to restrain members of Congress. An infamous photograph captured Munchel holding the zip ties as he climbed over a railing in the gallery of the Senate chambers, where 30 minutes before Congress was meeting to certify the results of the 2020 election.

Originally charged mainly with trespassing charges, the charges against Munchel and Eisenhart expanded in October to include obstruction, conspiracy, disorderly conduct and unauthorized entry. Munchel was found guilty of additional charges for carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds for arming himself with a Taser.

Lamberth found the mother and son guilty of all 10 charges against them at a bench trial in April after they forewent their right to a jury trial.

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum on Aug. 31 that they hoped the sentences deter the defendants and others from behaving similarly in the future.

"With the 2024 presidential election approaching, a rematch on the horizon, and many loud voices in the media and online continuing to sow discord and distrust, the potential for a repeat of January 6 looms ominously," prosecutors wrote. "The Court must sentence Munchel and Eisenhart in a manner sufficient to deter them specifically, and others generally, from going down that road again."

Several other Tennesseans have been sentenced for their roles in the attack at the U.S. Capitol. You can read about their sentences here.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Eric Munchel, Nashville 'zip-tie guy', sentenced in January 6 riot