Greene County woman in Capitol riot now incarcerated

Lisa Trigg, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·2 min read

Feb. 11—A Greene County woman sentenced to 14 days in prison for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is now in federal prison.

Dona Bissey, 53, of Bloomfield, is serving her sentence at the Hazelton Federal Correctional Institution in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. Her release date is listed as Feb. 20, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

The Hazelton complex houses 472 women in its secure female facility and 1,555 male inmates in the FCI.

Bissey was sentenced to the brief prison stint on Oct. 12, 2021, by Judge Tanya Chutkan in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She also was ordered to pay a $500 fine and do 60 hours of community service.

Bissey had pleaded guilty in July 2021 to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

The judge allowed Bissey to turn herself in to the Bureau of Prisons at the start of this year so she could deal with medical issues faced by her husband and daughter. She must complete her community service by the end of 2022.

The prison sentence had not been requested by the government nor Bissey's defense attorney in sentencing memorandums to the court. The government requested three years of probation, a $500 fine and 40 hours of community service as the sentence.

But Judge Chutkan said the case was not appropriate for the probation system, which she called "overworked and overstretched" due to the 600 criminal cases associated with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Bissey's plea agreement dropped three other charges — entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, and violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Her Bloomfield friend Anna Morgan-Lloyd, who joined Bissey on their trip to Washington, was arrested on the same charges.

Morgan-Lloyd pleaded guilty on June 23, 2021, to the misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building in violation of federal law. As the first defendant from the Jan. 6 insurrection to be sentenced, Morgan-Lloyd received three years on supervised probation and was fined $500.

The federal investigation determined Bissey, Morgan-Lloyd and their friends were inside the Capitol about 10 minutes that day. They posted photos to social media showing themselves inside a Capitol hallway.

Bissey was arrested Feb. 24 in Greene County after she was recognized because of her social media posts showing her inside the Capitol building.

Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter at TribStarLisa.