Prosecutors are recommending less jail time for the man who assaulted Democratic Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig than for some non-violent Jan. 6 defendants.
Kendrid Khalil Hamlin, who assaulted Craig in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment building in February, received a recommendation for 39 months in jail from U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, according to the government’s sentencing memo filed Friday. Meanwhile, prosecutors recommended longer sentences for Jan. 6 defendants who were not charged with assault and did not have an extensive criminal history like Hamlin.
“The defendant’s lengthy criminal history makes clear that he poses a significant danger to the community,” Hamlin’s sentencing memo states. “As a 27-year old, the defendant has amassed nine convictions which score criminal history points, three other convictions that do not score points, and has been arrested 28 other times.”
Multiple prior convictions were for assaulting police or corrections officers, the sentencing memo records.
Meanwhile, Graves sought 57 months for 34-year-old Erik Herrera, who entered the Capitol and took a photo of himself in the Senate Parliamentarian’s office, which he posted on Instagram, according to the sentencing memo. U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Herrera, who had no prior criminal history, to 48 months in prison.
“Herrera is a photographer but was not in the Capitol as a credentialed journalist,” the Justice Department’s press release states. “On Jan. 7, 2021, he admitted on social media that a press patch he was wearing had not been issued by a media organization.”(RELATED: DOJ Appeal Seeks Longer Prison Sentences For Proud Boys Convicted Over Jan. 6)
Prosecutors recommend 39 months of jail time for the man who assaulted Rep. Angie Craig in her apartment elevator. They also say Craig will submit a victim impact statement. pic.twitter.com/hdDPnSPqyx
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 10, 2023
Graves also recommended a 64-month sentence for Hunter Seefried, who broke a window and was one of the first to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden gave Seefried only 24 months, finding his involvement in the riot did not qualify as interfering with the “administration of justice” as prosecutors claimed, according to The Washington Post.
“[I]t is important to convey to future rioters and would-be mob participants—especially those who intend to improperly influence the democratic process—that their actions will have consequences,” prosecutors argued in Seefried’s memo. “There is possibly no greater factor that this Court must consider.”
Seefried had no prior convictions, according to his sentencing memo.
For Jacob Anthony Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman” whose photos inside the Capitol building went viral, prosecutors recommended 51 months in prison. He was sentenced to 41 months but released after 27 to a Phoenix halfway house, according to The Associated Press.
Chansley also had no criminal history.
“We have no comment beyond the filings or what is stated in court,” Patty Hartman, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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