Scavo charged with four misdemeanors for role in Capitol riots; admits to being inside building

Mar. 26—SCRANTON — Former Old Forge School Director Frank J. Scavo celebrated entering the U.S. Capitol illegally during the Jan. 6 riot, chanted with rioters once inside, posed for a picture near a painting and climbed a staircase while recording cellphone video, a federal criminal complaint charges.

One video on Scavo's phone records him roaming the Capitol halls, though he is not in the footage, FBI agent Brian R. Austin wrote in the complaint.

"Your own personal tour of the freaking Capitol," Scavo can be heard saying, according to the complaint. "We... took it back. Took it back."

Federal agents charged Scavo with entering the Capitol illegally during the riot meant to prevent Congress from ratifying President Joseph Biden's election.

Scavo, 58, surrendered to the FBI just before 10 a.m. Thursday at the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Scranton. The FBI charged him with four misdemeanors: knowingly entering or remaining in the Capitol without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct on Capitol grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol.

They resemble charges filed against hundreds of others who entered the Capitol the same day, including Annie Howell, 30, of Swoyersville, charged only last week. Five people died in the rioting, including a Capitol Police officer.

Scavo organized a caravan of five buses of about 200 supporters of President Donald Trump to a Washington, D.C., rally Jan. 6. Once there, they protested that the election was stolen from Trump — a false claim — just hours before Congress planned to meet to ratify the election of Biden, a Scranton native, to the presidency.

Before the riot, Trump spoke at a gathering where he encouraged supporters to keep believing the election was stolen from him and to march to the Capitol. Afterward, hundreds stormed the Capitol, breaking windows, attacking guards, roaming through offices and taking over the Senate chamber as members of Congress escaped to safety. Later that night, the Capitol cleared, Congress ratified Biden's election.

During a 15-minute hearing Thursday, Middle District of Pennsylvania Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick allowed Scavo to remain free without bail and set two preliminary hearings — one via Zoom on March 31 at 1 p.m. with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and another April 1 at 9 a.m. before her. The first hearing may eliminate the need for the second, she said.

Scavo faces up to three years in prison, fines of up to $210,000 and special assessments of up to $70.

Sentencing guidelines could produce a lesser penalty, assuming a conviction or guilty plea.

Scavo plans to plead not guilty.

After the hearing, his lawyer, Scranton attorney Ernie Preate Jr., told reporters the mob pushed Scavo into the Capitol, where he remained for eight minutes, six of which he spent trying to get out. He even asked two security guards for directions on leaving, Preate said.

Scavo initially denied entering the Capitol. Photos of him inside the building later emerged.

Preate called his client's claim "inaccurate" and said he did not know why Scavo told reporters he never entered the building.

"He was in awe of where he was and what was happening to him," Preate said. "We don't deny he was inside the Capitol. It's a question of how he got in the Capitol. And if you look at the affidavit, you'll see that there's a question as to whether he voluntarily went in or he was pushed in by the mob that was there... The video that we have shows the mob screaming at the door, 'Heave, heave, heave' and him getting caught in this mob going through. That's our position. We showed that to the government and the government has that, it's from his own phone."

Preate said he will seek recordings from Capitol video cameras.

"So we're pretty confident that he didn't commit any acts of violence, that he didn't do anything unruly, didn't break anything," he said. "If you're caught in a mob, and somebody pushes you through a door, I don't know whether that's knowingly entering... (He) never crossed any yellow line, never went through any barrier. No police officer confronted him and told him to stay away." He just was pushed in through the door. And it was a mob of 1,000, maybe more that did that."

Preate said Scavo recording his entry on his cellphone only corroborates his version.

The criminal complaint offers a different take.

It acknowledges Scavo voluntarily met with the FBI on Jan. 15 and told agents the crowd pushed him into the Capitol.

The FBI affidavit says his video does not show the mob pushing him, though the video is not continuous and does not show when he crossed the entrance threshold.

As rioters open the doors from inside, one of Scavo's videos records him saying he has to put on his mask and shows him wearing his "End the Rain Tax" mask.

Then he turns the camera on himself and says, "Here we go." The video cuts to Scavo walking up a staircase and roaming inside the Capitol.

He introduces himself to a woman in a hallway. He can also be heard saying, "God Bless America" and joining chants of "treason" and "defend the Constitution, defend your liberty."

Other video from inside the Capitol shows Scavo crossed the threshold at 2:40 p.m. with a large crowd following closely behind.

Once inside, he held up his cellphone and started recording video or photos. He kept doing that as he climbed a staircase. Scavo told the FBI he wanted to document the event.

"This is top-secret ... We're in the Capitol. Stormed the ... Capitol of the ... United States at 58 years old. What the ... is wrong with America?" he says in one video.

He stopped a random passerby and asked the person to take a photo of him in front of a painting of a boat.

As he stepped out of the federal courthouse Thursday, Scavo talked about none of that. He pulled a pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence out of his coal-black suit jacket, but declined to comment directly on the charges.

{span class="aCOpRe print_trim"}"We'll be giving you more comments as the days progress," Scavo said.1/2/span}

Asked about his earlier denial of being inside the Capitol and Preate acknowledging he entered the building, Scavo said legal discovery will produce unspecified evidence, but "today's not the day that we will tell the whole story."

As he walked away from reporters, a woman shouted for him to shut up.

He did.

Mehalchick ordered Scavo to turn over his passport and forbid him from traveling to Washington, D.C., unless a court orders him there. She also said he would need the permission of the court and a federal pretrial services officer to leave Pennsylvania's middle federal court district, a 33-county territory that includes northeastern and central Pennsylvania. She said Scavo must check in with a pretrial officer weekly and forbid him from talking to potential witnesses or keeping firearms or other destructive weapons. She also ordered him to report any contact with law enforcement, even a traffic stop.

"Yes, your honor," Scavo said, echoing his answer to most of Mehalchick's questions.

Preate said Scavo owns only a bow and arrow.

"He's been cooperating with the FBI," Preate told the judge. "He has no criminal record. He's been an outstanding citizen of the community for 58 years."

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.