Two Rochester-area men sentenced for their roles in Capitol riot
As the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol morphed from a rally to a riot, Cody Mattice sent a text.
"I yanked the gates from the cops holding Capitol hill and me and james slammed through em and pushed em back and took the doors bro I was fighting like 4 cops back bro," he wrote, adding, "I also maced a cop."
The recipient of the text responded, asking why Mattice, a Greece resident, and his friend, James Mault, were storming the Capitol. "Trump told us to because of the fraud," Mattice answered.
On Friday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. sentenced both Mattice, 29, and Mault, 30 and formerly of Brockport, to 44 months in prison for their assaults on police during the insurrection. The two were accused of being at the forefront of the mob that attacked the Capitol in hopes of halting the Congressional count of electoral votes that installed President-elect Joe Biden.
On Friday, both men "wept as they stood before Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell and asked for leniency, apologizing for their actions and saying they hoped to return soon to their families and young children," according to The Washington Post.
"But Howell noted that prosecutors had already cut them a reasonable deal by dropping charges that could have led to far more prison time, and she imposed the sentences requested by the government. Only four other Jan. 6 defendants have been sentenced to longer prison terms."
As well as helping lead the mass of people who first rushed the Capitol, the two men pepper-sprayed police who were trying to protect the electoral vote.
Texts introduced as evidence against the two show that they went from exuberance about their role in the riot to solemn, as they questioned whether a conspiracy theory that the insurrection was staged by Antifa might be true. They also believed that they would be immune from punishment and prosecution because they did not enter the Capitol.
In a letter to the judge, Mattice apologized for his role in the riot and said he got caught up in the crowds who believed that Trump had won the election. Despite the wealth of evidence to the contrary, and the numerous court rulings confirming Biden's victory in closely fought states, Mattice and others swarmed the Capitol in hopes of the reversal of the election.
"My immature actions that day were filled with ignorance, confusion, fear and a belief being relentlessly pounded into my head all day that what we were doing was standing up for America and the people," Mattice wrote in a letter to the judge before sentencing. "I feel as if my love for this beautiful country and the freedom America stands for was used against me for one's political motivations and gains."
Mault joined the Army after the riot and before he was criminally charged. He, too, contended that he became swept up by the moment and did not travel to Washington, D.C. for violence.
Prosecutors maintained in court papers that the two were downplaying the severity of their crimes.
"By their own admission, each was an active participant in the mob that interrupted the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count, injured more than one hundred law enforcement officers, and resulted in more than 2.7 million dollars in losses," prosecutors wrote this month. "Neither was swept up in the crowd; instead, Mault and Mattice were agitators."
Contact Gary Craig at gcraig@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at gcraig1.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester-area men sentenced for roles in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
