A Washington state man was sentenced to over seven years in prison on Wednesday after a judge said he played a leadership role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and called for a “nuclear option” when then-Vice President Mike Pence failed to pause the electoral vote count.
“In any angry mob, there are leaders and there are followers. Mr. Johnatakis was a leader. He knew what he was doing that day,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said on April 3 in a District of Columbia courtroom, before sentencing Taylor James Johnatakis to seven years and three months behind bars.
Mr. Johnatakis, of Kingston, Washington, was convicted in November 2023 of four misdemeanors and three felonies by a federal jury in the nation’s capital. The charges included civil disorder and assaulting police….
