Former State College business owner sentenced to 80 months in prison for Jan. 6 attack

A former downtown State College business owner who pepper-sprayed at least three police officers during the violent January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Friday to more than six years in prison.

Julian E. Khater, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan to 80 months in prison. He received credit for 22 1/2 months served since his March 2021 arrest and was also fined $10,000, The Washington Post reported.

The sentence — which is less than the 7 1/2 years federal prosecutors asked for — is one of the longest handed down for any Capitol rioter.

Khater, who owned Frutta Bowls until it closed in May 2020, pleaded guilty in September to two felony counts of assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon. That includes Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after defending the Capitol.

The medical examiner’s office in Washington, D.C., ruled in April 2021 that Sicknick, 42, had two strokes and died of natural causes. Neither Khater nor George Tanios — a West Virginia man who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for conspiring with Khater — were charged in Sicknick’s death.

The case against them has been among the most prominent brought by the Justice Department, which is prosecuting hundreds of people from nearly every state for their conduct at the Capitol.

Sicknick and other officers were standing guard behind metal bicycle racks as the mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Khater, a federal prosecutor wrote in a sentencing memo to Hogan, pepper-sprayed the officers for nearly 30 seconds.

The attack, prosecutors wrote, contributed to the collapse of the police line.

Sicknick’s mother, two older brothers, sister-in-law and longtime partner each authored a letter to Hogan. Each honored Sicknick and lambasted Khater.

Gladys Sicknick, his mother, wrote Khater is “center stage in our recurring nightmare.”

“I don’t know what kind of upbringing you had, what might have happened in your childhood that contributed to your deluded sense of right and wrong. If I were your mother, I’d be embarrassed to have a son like you. I couldn’t bear to look at you ever again,” she wrote. “... Lawlessness, misplaced loyalty, and hate killed my son and I hope you are haunted by your crimes behind bars. Whatever jail time you receive is not enough.”

Craig Sicknick, his brother, wondered if Khater thought he would be rewarded for his “idiotic efforts.” He remembered his younger brother as a “gentle soul who chose the path of protecting others.”

“Your actions that day led to the death of my kid brother, who was by any measure more of man than you will ever hope to be,” he wrote.

Kenneth Sicknick described his brother as a “hero,” one that was humble and cared deeply about helping others in need.

“The only thing that surpasses my anger is my sadness. Sadness that the only time I can communicate with Brian is to speak into the nothingness and hope that he is listening. I am sad that I am now hyper aware regarding my surroundings hoping to see signs that he is still here,” he wrote. “A price on a receipt with his badge number, a cardinal showing up at random, a blue and black butterfly that flies across my path. I stop when I see these things. I listen, I remember (and) I hope that he is OK because I know that myself and my family are not.”

Nicholle Sicknick, his sister-in-law, wrote her memories are now “drowned in rage and sadness and terror and tears.” Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s partner of more than a decade, described him as a “wonderful, warmhearted and caring person.”

She filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month against Trump, Khater and Tanios.

“After his death, which was so public, not one single person had anything negative to say about him,” Garza wrote. “That’s why it hurts me so much that defendants Tanios and Khater assaulted him. Had they gotten to know him, they would have liked him, and that is why it’s very sad and very painful for me to accept what they did.”

Khater’s attorneys — Joseph Tacopina and Chad Seigel — painted his actions as a “fleeting and impulsive response to a moment of hysteria fueled by his preexisting diagnosed anxiety coupled with the potent influence of a mob mentality.”

More than a dozen people wrote a letter in support of Khater.

“Julian Khater did not plan his assault. He did not belong to some militia or extremist organization. He did not enter the Capitol building. He did not brag on social media or elsewhere about his conduct. He did not urge others to engage in violence. He did not engage in political rhetoric justifying his actions,” his attorneys wrote. “... He acted momentarily, impulsively and aberrantly in the heat of the moment, fueled by his anxiety and extremely stressful circumstances.”

The longest prison sentence for a Capitol rioter so far is 10 years.