Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Richard “Bigo” Barnett to more than seven years for his actions before, during and after the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
They noted in a court filing that a picture of a smiling Barnett lounging in Pelosi’s office became “one of the best-known images of that day, symbolizing the rioters having wrested control of both the hallowed space and the political process from the nation’s elected leaders.”
Bido’s attorney’s wanted 6 months because he was a retired firefighter and a bull rider!
Judge Christopher Cooper (Obama) sentenced him to 54 months.
Barnett became a widely known symbol of the riot when he was photographed reclining in a chair in Pelosi’s office, with his feet propped up, and what the government referred to as a “stun device” tucked in his pants. Before he left Pelosi’s office, Barnett took an envelope that he later displayed for cameras outside the Capitol.
A jury deliberated for less than three hours in January before convicting Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 62, of Gravette, Arkansas, of eight criminal counts – including felony charges of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon. Jurors rejected Barnett’s testimony claiming he’d inadvertently wound up in the Speaker’s office suite while looking for a restroom and that the 950,000-volt stun gun walking stick he’d brought to D.C. – and repeatedly showed off in a hotel bar the night before the riot – had been inoperable by the time he reached the Capitol. Prosecutors argued Barnett had come to D.C. “prepared for violence.”
Since his arrest just days after the riot, Barnett has been outspoken in his criticisms of the Justice Department and the police who defended the Capitol – who he accused at trial of assaulting protestors and instigating the attack on the building. Prosecutors said he had also tried to profit from his notoriety and entered a recorded jailhouse phone call into evidence showing he’d suggested copyrighting the wording of the crude note he’d left behind for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reading, “Hey Nancy, Bigo was here, b*****.” In their memo, prosecutors said Barnett also sold autographed photographs of himself with his feet up on what he thought was Pelosi’s desk.
