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Colorado man pleads guilty to misdemeanor for entering US Capitol on Jan. 6

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Posted at 1:00 PM, Aug 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-09 15:00:46-04

DENVER – One of the Colorado men who illegally went inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor federal crime, according to court records filed Monday.

Glen Wes Lee Croy pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol, according to the documents. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, according to the records. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 15.

As part of the plea agreement with the government, Croy also agreed to pay the Department of Treasury $500 in restitution as part of the nearly $1.5 million in damage caused to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the documents show. He also agreed to be interviewed by federal investigators before sentencing.

Croy is one of several Coloradans charged with federal crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, which disrupted the confirmation of the Electoral College votes that was taking place inside.

Croy was arrested on Feb. 17in Colorado Springs and was originally also charged with disorderly conduct. He drove to the Capitol from Colorado Springs, picking up an Ohio man along the way, and the two attended the rally that was held by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters just before the riot occurred.

According to federal investigators, Croy went inside the Capitol around 2:20 p.m. that day, walked through the Rotunda and near the Crypt, and took photos of himself and his friend with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. The Department of Justice said those photos were “later distributed widely to others.”

The federal documents say Croy was inside the Capitol for approximately 20 minutes, but that there was “no evidence” he or the man he was with “were violent or destructive on the grounds or inside the Capitol.”

But Croy sent the picture of himself with the Lincoln statue and other photos and videos to a friend over Facebook Messenger, according to a federal complaint, and told the person he had been there on Jan. 6. The friend in turn reported the conversation and photo to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who matched Croy’s social media accounts to his driver’s license photo.

Agents also obtained body camera showing a person believed to be Croy inside the Capitol and discovered a tweet he sent to Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., responding that he would be at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The FBI obtained GPS data from Croy’s phone that additionally confirmed he was inside the Capitol building, which is illegal without permission.

The pleading documents were signed by Croy and his attorney July 31 and were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Monday.