Former KC-area Proud Boy gets probation in Jan. 6 case. Feds say he aided investigators

A former Kansas City-area Proud Boy and ex-Blue Springs police officer accused of conspiring with others to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation followed by 24 months of supervised release.

Louis Enrique Colon, 47, the last of four local Proud Boys to be sentenced in the case, also must pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol, which the government says totaled more than $2.9 million.

Colon faced a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors asked for two years’ probation and $2,000 restitution, saying he provided “substantial assistance” to authorities in the case.

Colon’s sentencing before Judge Timothy J. Kelly in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia came more than two years after he pleaded guilty to civil order, obstructing officers trying to secure the Capitol during the breach.

The plea agreement required him to cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

The government’s sentencing memorandum filed July 2 described Colon as “a first-degree Proud Boy” who “traveled to the capital region as part of a structured group that was prepared for violence.”

After being charged in the case, the government said, “Colon has shown an unusual degree of acceptance of responsibility, as outlined in (the) government’s sealed filing that accompanies this memorandum.”

“Accordingly, he deserves a sentence substantially lower than what the Court has imposed on co-defendants. … Colon’s decision to disassociate from the Proud Boys after the events of January 6 showed an intention to avoid similar situations in the future, and his subsequent conduct has corroborated his commitment to that path.”

Colon was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2021 along with three other Kansas City-area Proud Boys — William Chrestman and Christopher Kuehne, of Olathe, and Ryan Ashlock, of Gardner — and Tucson, Arizona, siblings Cory and Felicia Konold.

The six were charged with conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Chrestman also was charged with threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer and carrying a wooden ax handle while in the Capitol building and on the grounds.

Colon’s sentencing document included details of his actions before and during the Capitol attack. He was part of a planning chat with other members of the Kansas City-area Proud Boys chapter, it said. The discussion related mostly to logistics and talk about radios, medical supplies and other tactical items, it said, but some members made it clear they anticipated serious violence.

“Colon, for his part, did not discourage such sentiments, but nor did he overtly embrace them,” the filing said.

Colon traveled to Virginia with others in the group, it said, and they stayed in a rental property on Jan. 5, 2021.

“Colon brought a handgun on the trip, but (like other members of his cohort who traveled with firearms) he left it in a vehicle and did not bring it into Washington, D.C.,” the sentencing document said. “Once they arrived in the D.C. metro area, Colon went with co-defendants Ashlock and Kuehne to a hardware store, where Colon purchased a modified axe handle that he could use as a walking stick and weapon.”

On the morning of Jan. 6, it said, Colon and the other Kansas City Proud Boys made their way to the National Mall.

“Colon was wearing a backpack, pocket knife, tactical vest, tactical gloves, boots, and a helmet adorned with orange tape, and other members of the group were similarly equipped,” the document said. “The tape was being distributed by co-defendant Kuehne, who had purchased it at the hardware store the day before at Colon’s suggestion.”

While heading to The Mall, it said, they encountered several people whom they invited to join them, including Felicia and Cory Konold. Colon’s group then met up with a group of about 100 Proud Boys who marched together from the Washington Monument to the Capitol.

At Peace Circle, the sentencing document said, they were part of the group that surged forward after some in the crowd forced their way past police lines and moved onto the Lower West Terrace.

“Colon remained on the west front of the Capitol for more than one hour, as members of the crowd fought with police and officers used crowd-control measures including projectiles and chemical irritants to try to repel the increasingly violent mob,” it said. “Eventually, the crowd reached the building and forced entry by breaking windows. Colon entered shortly after the initial breach.”

A group of rioters, including Colon and other Kansas City Proud Boys, chased officers out of the Crypt, the filing said. As police were fleeing, it said, a large metal door began lowering from the ceiling. The officers retreated behind the gate and tried to help it close, but rioters fought to keep it open.

Those ahead of Colon threw a trash can at the officers and attempted to slide pieces of furniture into the door’s path to keep it from closing, the document said. The officers soon yielded, and the crowd kept advancing.

“But members of the Kansas City Proud Boys group, with Colon gesturing in support, worked together to drag a movable podium into the path of the door, replacing a smaller chair that another rioter had placed there,” it said. Soon after that, Colon put a chair in the path of another door in the area.

“Colon and other rioters then moved into the Capitol Visitor Center, following in the wake of the fleeing police, and remained there for a short time until they learned that a shooting had taken place near the House floor, after which they returned to the Senate Wing Door and left the building,” the filing said.

Colon’s attorney, J.R. Hobbs of Kansas City, filed a sentencing memorandum on behalf of Colon on July 2, saying his “remorse is sincere” and his conduct on Jan. 6 “was an aberration in a life otherwise devoted to work and to his wife and family.”

Colon worked for the Blue Springs Police Department from late 2003 until he resigned in 2006, a department official told The Star after his arrest. He has a journeyman license and is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1464 in good standing, his sentencing document said.

Hobbs added that after the riot, Colon “withdrew from his brief association with the Proud Boys.”

“To be clear, Mr. Colon accepts responsibility for his conduct,” Hobbs wrote. “He did not harm anyone associated with the January 6th events or attempt to harm anyone. Regrettably, he did prop open a ‘garage type door’ for others, but did not enter the building itself.

“Mr. Colon understands that he must be punished for his actions. However, his punishment should be proportional to the nature of the offense conduct, as well as Mr. Colon’s background and true acceptance of responsibility.”

Colon pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of civil disorder, a felony. A status report filed with the court last November requested that it continue to hold off setting a sentencing date because Colon’s “potential cooperation” in the case was “not yet complete.”

Chrestman, who prosecutors said was a key player in the riot, pleaded guilty in October to obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer, both felonies. He was sentenced in January to 55 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol.

Kuehne, a Marine Corps combat veteran who court records show has since moved to Arizona, pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and was sentenced in February to 75 days in prison. He also received 24 months of supervised release, which included 60 days of home detention, and was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution.

Ashlock was sentenced in November 2022 to 70 days in jail and 12 months of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a misdemeanor.

The Konolds pleaded guilty in November 2023 to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting. Felicia Konold was sentenced to 45 days’ incarceration and 24 months of supervised release. Cory Konold was sentenced to 30 days’ incarceration and 24 months of supervised release.

Colon’s sentencing document included six character reference letters sent to the judge from friends and family members who described Colon as a hard-working, responsible man and devoted father with no history of violence.

“After the January 6 incident, Enrique was very repentant about his involvement, even trying to persuade some of the group with whom he went to Washington, D.C., to get out of the group that had organized the trip and participated in that event,” wrote his father, Louis E. Colon, a pastor from Rochester, New York.

Mindy Jamaleddin, who said she’d known Colon for more than a decade, wrote that he’d called her from D.C. after the riot and was “extremely upset.”

“He said he’d made a mistake being there,” Jamaleddin said. “He told me that it wasn’t what he thought it was. That the people he went with weren’t who he thought they were. He has had deep regret from that day and every day since for being there.”