CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Middleberg couple have evaded jail time after taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Rachael Pert and her boyfriend, Dana Joe Winn, pleaded guilty in October to misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building, which can carry one-year jail sentences.
On Monday, they were both sentenced to pay $500 in restitution and complete 24 months of probation. They were charged with one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building.
Back in January, after a hearing, the pair sprinted away from reporters after their initial court appearance.
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The Florida Times-Union reports that the pair posted video from their drive to Washington on Facebook before the riot, were photographed inside the Capitol, where a meeting of Congress to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory was halted by hundreds of rioters.
Both had on masks, Pert wore a TRUMP flag like a cape and Winn carried an American flag on a pole.
In a packet of legal papers filed after a virtual court hearing, the couple each signed to acknowledge the government could prove basic facts — a “statement of offense” — about their actions on Jan. 6.
The couple had traveled to Washington for a “Stop the Steal” rally protesting results from the election, the statement said, which was added to the court’s public docket.
“After attending the rally, the defendant[s] marched to the U.S. Capitol and made entrance into the building,” continued the statement, which said Winn’s flag was upside-down “to indicate a country in distress.”
The statement said the two were captured on video again after leaving the Capitol, discussing what happened.