The Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the sentencing of Josiah Colt, 34, of Meridian on a felony charge for obstructing official Congressional proceedings on January 6, 2021.
Colt pleaded guilty to the charges on July 14, 2021.
The U.S. District Court sentenced him to 15 months in prison, an additional 36 months of supervised release and a $1000 fine.
According to his guilty plea, Colt entered the Capitol as Congressional Members were being evacuated. He made his way to the Senate Chamber, following others who had forced their way past the US Capitol Police and into the Senate Gallery just after the Senators had been removed.
In a Facebook video post from Colt's account that day, he called then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a traitor and claimed to have sat in her chair. In actuality, he was in the Senate, not the House, occupying the chair of the Senate President, the Vice President of the United States.
The press release references court papers that show Colt, along with two others charged and sentenced separately in the Capitol Breach, traveled to Washington for the January 6 protest.
In preparation for the protest, the trio is said to have assembled gun holsters, gas masks, helmets, body armor, a handheld taser/stun gun, walkie-talkies talkies, knives, bear mace, and Colt, specifically, brought a Glock .43 pistol. Colt ultimately left his firearm in his hotel but was fully cloaked in body armor when he went to the Capitol.
Over 1000 individuals have been arrested on charges related to the January 6 Capitol breach, including more than 320 charged with assault, resisting and interfering with law enforcement.
