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A Pennsylvania woman who pleaded guilty to participating in the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol has asked a judge to give her only probation in lieu of the two-week jail sentence plus three years' probation sought by prosecutors.
Jennifer Heinl, 44, lost her job and marriage in the wake of last year's Capitol breach, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Heinl is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
It has been more than a year since a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters breached the Capitol in an effort to thwart the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory. While Heinl's case is set to soon come to a close, the FBI is still working to identify hundreds of others who were there that day.
The statement of offense against Heinl says that she traveled from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, attended a rally on January 6 at the Ellipse in D.C., then headed for the Capitol building.
As she approached the building, Heinl heard an alarm sounding inside the Capitol and saw law enforcement officers trying to stop people from entering, the statement said. Despite seeing this, she entered the Capitol building about 2:20 p.m.
About two minutes later, she entered the Crypt area of the Capitol, and was then seen on a security camera about 2:41 p.m. speaking to another individual inside the Rotunda, according to the statement.
"The defendant knew at the time she entered the U.S. Capitol Building that she did not have permission to enter the building and the defendant paraded, demonstrated, or picketed," the statement added.
She pleaded guilty in November to a charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building, according to the plea agreement. She initially faced four charges total, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
In addition to entering the Capitol and remaining within the building for more than 40 minutes to film what was happening, prosecutors accused Heinl of lying to an FBI agent and not showing remorse for her actions during another FBI interview after entering her guilty plea, the Post-Gazette reported.
But her lawyer, Martin Dietz, is seeking only probation instead of the jail sentence and argued that Heinl is "extremely remorseful, embarrassed and ashamed" for her involvement in the siege.
Dietz said that her actions that day weren't violent and didn't encourage additional disorder while she was there. He also cited her lack of previous run-ins with the law, and the fact that she has already experienced the consequences of her actions in losing her husband and job, according to the Post-Gazette.
Newsweek has reached out to Dietz for additional comment.
Update 03/15/22, 5:25 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
About the writer
Zoe Strozewski is a Newsweek reporter based in New Jersey. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and global politics. Zoe ... Read more