Kansas City man who spent 18 seconds in Capitol on Jan. 6 gets probation, home detention

A Kansas City man who spent 18 seconds inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months’ probation with 30 days of home detention.

Angelo Pacheco, 24, also is required to pay $500 restitution for damage to the Capitol that day, which the government says totaled more than $2.9 million.

His sentencing Tuesday before Judge Randolph D. Moss on was held via video conference in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Pacheco faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail, a $5,000 fine and five years’ probation.

The government requested a sentence of 36 months’ probation that included 60 days’ home detention, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution.

Pacheco is the 21st Missouri resident to be sentenced in connection with the Capitol riot. Six others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, and the cases of nine additional Missouri defendants are pending. A jury trial for one of the nine — John George Todd III of Blue Springs — is underway this week.

In its sentencing memorandum filed Jan. 18, the government said though Pacheco’s time in the Capitol was brief, his conduct both during and after the riot should not be minimized.

“Pacheco ignored warning sign after warning sign that day,” the document said. “He ignored the chemical agents in the air, (the) knocked over barricades, violence against police, and the utter chaos on the West Plaza, of which he had a bird’s eye view while perched on the media tower.”

Pacheco then ignored the blaring alarms and broken windows as he entered the Capitol through the Upper West Terrace doors, the filing said. He wore large sunglasses and a black bandana over his face to conceal his identity, it said, adding that “his need to be part of the action, to be one of the many to dare to step foot inside, overcame his better judgment.”

“When initially approached by the FBI in the fall of 2022, rather than accept responsibility and express contrition, he lied by denying having gone inside the Capitol building,” the government’s filing said. “Around the same time of his initial interview with the FBI, Pacheco deleted his Twitter account, which, by his own admission, contained statements he made on and around January 6, 2021, concerning the 2020 election and the riot.”

‘Clearly made poor decisions’

Pacheco’s own sentencing memorandum, filed Jan. 25 by his attorney, Anthony Bologna, said Pacheco “clearly made poor decisions which brought him to the situation he is in.”

“Mr. Pacheco explains that going in he had no intention of being a part of what ultimately occurred and that if he could go back in time he would never have made the trip,” it said. “He also describes how bad he feels for everyone that was injured and all the damage that was caused. ‘That is not me,’ in his words, is how he looks back on that day in frustration.”

Pacheco was charged in July with four misdemeanors and pleaded guilty in October to a single count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. In exchange for Pacheco’s guilty plea, the government dropped the other misdemeanor charges: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

A statement of offense Pacheco signed Oct. 25 as part of his plea agreement says that he traveled to Washington from Kansas City to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College.

After the rally, his statement said, he marched to the Capitol with other protesters. While on the Capitol grounds, it said, Pacheco climbed scaffolding that had been erected for the presidential inauguration, then made his way to the Upper West Terrace of the building.

“At 2:39 p.m., Pacheco entered the Capitol building through the Upper West Terrace door,” it said. “After seeing police presence down the hallway, Pacheco turned around and exited the building through the same door approximately six seconds later.”

The government’s Jan. 18 sentencing document said Pacheco was in the building for 18 seconds.

According to the probable cause affidavit, after the riot the FBI received a tip from someone who said that Pacheco was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. An FBI agent then found social media posts showing Pacheco on the Capitol grounds and scaffolding. The agent also reviewed Capitol surveillance video footage that showed Pacheco standing in the doorway on the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol around 2:37 p.m., the affidavit said.

Two minutes later, it said, Pacheco entered the building, then quickly left through the same door.

The affidavit said two FBI agents interviewed Pacheco at his home on Sept. 29, 2022. During the interview, it said, Pacheco admitted to being at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but said he did not remember entering the building.

An agent interviewed Pacheco again on May 17, 2023, the affidavit said, this time in his attorney’s office. During the interview, the agent showed Pacheco six images from social media and he identified himself in all of them.

And this time, the agent wrote, “He said that he remembered entering the Capitol.”

Pacheco’s sentencing memorandum said he’d always been interested in politics and routinely followed news and current events.

Turning Point USA paid for travel

“This desire for knowledge led to him becoming interested in a political group called Turning Point USA,” it said. Pacheco was not an active member of the organization, the document said, but followed its activities online.

“When the group offered to pay for travel and room for persons to travel to Washington DC to see a President speak at a rally in person he jumped at the opportunity,” it said. “He never imagined the decision to make this trip would lead to the events that ultimately unfolded or him being caught up in the crimes that ultimately took place.”

When authorities first approached Pacheco about his involvement on Jan. 6, his sentencing document said, he was frightened and “offered explanations that were not completely forthright.” But, it said, he soon accepted full responsibility for his actions and cooperated with the investigation.

Bologna wrote that Pacheco “is ready and willing to abide by any punishment this Court deems appropriate” but asked that if the court decided to include house arrest as part of his sentence, it would contain “two provisions for short periods of release for his continued work as a Special Olympic coach on Saturday mornings and church on Sundays.”

In 2022, the document said, Pacheco started substitute teaching for special needs students in the Park Hill School District. That evolved into a full-time position working with students with autism, it said. The job ended in the summer of 2023, however, when the teacher he was subbing for returned. That led him to get involved with the local Special Olympics chapter, according to the sentencing document, and he became a certified Special Olympics coach by obtaining his online training and certification.

Last year, Pacheco also obtained his Emergency Medical Technicians certificate from Metropolitan Community College and Emergency Medical Technician License through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, it said. He received his National EMS Certification as an EMS professional through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

But because of his Capitol riot case, the document said, he has been unable to find employment.

“Unfortunately, his actions and resulting charges have made it practically impossible to get substitution jobs,” it said. “They have also created a seemingly impossible path to breaking into his EMT career.”

It added, however, that he “no doubt feels great remorse for his involvement and for the pain and suffering anyone endured because of what went on that day.”

“He has made a concerted effort to focus on continuing to be the caring, concerned, giving and successful person he is.”