Dustin Byron Thompson, Capitol Breach, Washington District of Columbia 2022

An Ohio man has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for his involvement in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, of Columbus, Ohio, was found guilty by a jury on April 14, 2022, of one felony and five misdemeanor charges.

The charges include obstruction of an official proceeding, theft of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

Thompson’s co-defendant, Robert Anthony Lyon, 28, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, pleaded guilty on March 14, 2022, to misdemeanor charges of theft of government property and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Thompson and Lyon entered the restricted grounds of the Capitol at approximately 2 p.m. on January 6, 2021. Thompson, wearing a bulletproof vest, unlawfully entered the building, stole a bottle of bourbon, and a coat rack from the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office.

Thompson was stopped by U.S. Capitol Police officers while waiting for an Uber on Capitol grounds later that evening. Lyon was arrested, while Thompson fled, leaving the coat rack behind. Thompson was arrested on January 25, 2021, in Ohio.

Following completion of his prison term, Thompson will be placed on three years of supervised release. He must also pay $2,000 in restitution.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia with assistance from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Cincinnati Field Offices, with valuable assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 22 months since January 6, 2021, nearly 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 275 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

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