California man to serve 4½ years in prison for role in riot at Capitol

WASHINGTON — A Southern California man who assaulted police with pepper spray during the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 4½ years in prison, federal authorities announced.

Jeffrey Scott Brown, 56, of Santa Ana received a sentence of 54 months in federal prison for felony and misdemeanor charges related to the mob attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a Friday press statement.

More than 1,000 individuals have been arrested, including more than 320 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the DOJ said.

Trump supporters that day tried to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results for Joe Biden, a Democrat, over Trump, the Republican incumbent.

Brown and two co-defendants were found guilty at trial in December.

Peter J. Schwartz of Uniontown, Pa., is scheduled to be sentenced in May. It was not clear why Markus Maly of Fincastle, Va., was not sentenced Friday as scheduled.

Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 70 months for Brown, who they say dove toward the front of a makeshift police line and used on officers a stolen can of pepper spray handed to him by Schwartz.

Brown’s attorney, Samuel C. Moore, said the conduct involved “less than 10 minutes of Mr. Brown’s life” and the alleged pepper spray “did not make contact with any specific victim.”