Las Vegas man pleads guilty in Capitol siege

Las Vegas Review-Journal

2 years ago

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to ... — FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to open a door of the U.S. Capitol as they riot in Washington. New internal documents provided by former Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen provide a rare glimpse into how the company, after years under the microscope for the policing of its platform, appears to have simply stumbled into the Jan. 6 riot (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE – Violent insurrectionists, loyal to President Donald Trump, storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The first trial for one of the hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions starts this week, with jury selection scheduled to begin on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, for the case against Guy Wesley Reffitt. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE – In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. The House committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, with its latest round of subpoenas in September 2021, may uncover the degree to which former President Donald Trump, his campaign and White House were involved in planning the rally that preceded the riot, which had been billed as a grassroots demonstration. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump scale the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol in Washington. In the nearly nine months since Jan. 6, federal agents have managed to track down and arrest more than 600 people across the U.S. believed to have joined in the riot at the Capitol. Getting those cases swiftly to trial is turning out to be an even more difficult task. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

WASHINGTON – A Las Vegas man arrested for assaulting Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 riot pleaded guilty to felony charges on Friday and agreed to cooperate with a federal investigation into the coordinated attempt to the stop the certification of the electoral vote in the presidential election.

Nathaniel DeGrave, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

As part of the plea, he agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department investigation in the Capitol breach, according to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

DeGrave faces a statutory 20-year sentence on the conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and eight years for assault.

The Las Vegas businessman drove to Washington with Ronnie Sandlin, 34, and Josiah Colt, 35 of Idaho, to participate in the siege of the Capitol.

Surveillance camera footage and videos posted on social media accounts showed the men inside the Capitol, and Sandlin and DeGrave assaulting police outside the Senate Gallery.

Colt was captured in photos inside the Senate dangling from the upper gallery over the floor after lawmakers were evacuated.

Colt has also pleaded guilty to charges and agreed to cooperate in the investigation.

Sandlin has pleaded not guilty to felony charges.

The men stayed in a Maryland hotel where they contemplated whether to bring weapons to the Capitol. And undated photos posted to social media by Sandlin showed him brandishing a semi-automatic rifle.

DeGrave, Sandlin and Colt wore tactical gear and carried bear spray, according to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The men pushed through barricades and entered the Capitol from the West Terrace. They then moved to the Senate Gallery where officers struggled with a crowd of rioters. Once inside, DeGrave shouted to rioters on the Senate floor to “take laptops, paperwork, take everything … “ according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Following the siege, DeGrave and Sandlin posted pictures of Jan. 6 events on Facebook. They then deleted images when the investigation began.

The two men were arrested Jan. 28, 2021 near DeGrave’s apartment in Las Vegas.

Separate federal judges ordered DeGrave and Sandlin held without bond in the District of Columbia jail.

The riots left five dead and many injured when mobs overran police barricades and broke through windows to enter the Capitol and hunt down lawmakers who were certifying state election results.

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was sprayed with a chemical irritant and collapsed during his battle to keep the rioters out. He died the next day.

The D.C. medical examiner’s office confirmed four other deaths as a result of the Capitol siege, including Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who stormed the Capitol and was shot by police. Two other people died of natural causes and one from accidental amphetamine intoxication.

More than 840 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, including more than 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.