Cody Connell sentenced to 26 months in prison for role in January 6th Capitol riot
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTAL/KMSS) – A former Vivian resident arrested for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021 is sentenced on Tuesday for his crimes.
According to Matthew Graves, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Cody Connell, 30, will spend the next 26 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release.
Connell and his co-defendant cousin, Daniel Adams, 45 of Goodrich, Texas, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman after being found guilty of three felonies, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, and four misdemeanors connected to the riot.
The obstruction of an official proceeding charge was later dismissed. Both men were also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
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According to federal prosecutors, Connell, who lived in Vivian as the time, and Adams traveled from their homes to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.
After the rally, prosecutors proved the pair made their way to the west front of the United States Capitol building, the scene of some of the most serious violence, mob assaults, and breaches of police lines and the building itself.
Prosecutors proved the two helped lead the charge at the northwest stairs of the Capitol as rioters overwhelmed police.
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Prosecutors say less than thirty seconds after the first breach of the Capitol, Adams and Connell entered the building through the Senate Wing Door. Court documents say that Connell was the third rioter to pass through and was among the first twenty rioters to enter the Capitol that day. Adams was one of the first rioters among the many hundreds who followed Connell through the now-open door.
When the men returned home, they took to social media boasting about their crimes.
According to the Department of Justice, 1,572 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.
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