Two-time Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday for her admitted role in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riots.
DC United States Senior District Judge Richard Leon also sentenced the 41-year-old former swimming champion to three years of probation and ordered him to perform 360 hours of community service.
Keller pleaded guilty in September 2021 to one count of obstructing official proceedings.
“I have no reason why I’m in front of you today,” Keller told Leon before receiving his sentence. “I understand my actions are criminal and I take full responsibility for my conduct.”
Keller’s attorneys, in court papers filed last month, asked the judge to impose probation and restitution, arguing that his “early admission” as one of the first to plead guilty in the case warranted leniency.
The fact that Keller had not been at the Capitol for a long time, that he had not injured anyone or damaged any property and that he had never been arrested before, also supported a sentence without prison, attorney Zachary Deubler wrote.
Klete Keller — two-time gold medalist — pleaded guilty to obstructing official proceedings in 2021. AFP via Getty Images
“While Mr. Keller’s behavior at the Capitol was inexcusable, his behavior was not violent—and arguably far less disruptive than most [other] defendant …,” Deubler wrote. “This court should not conflate Mr. Keller’s behavior with some of the more serious offenders but instead should consider Mr. Keller’s relatively minor role.”
Meanwhile, prosecutors asked for a 10-month sentence, arguing that Keller had tried to hide his participation in the riots that day by throwing the jacket he was wearing — with an American flag on the sleeve, an Olympic team patch on the front and the letters “USA” on the back — into trash can and smashed his cell phone with a hammer.
“Klete Derik Keller once wore the American flag as an Olympian. On January 6, 2021, he threw the flag into the trash,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo last month.
Keller pleaded guilty in September 2021, saying, “I understand my actions were criminal and I take full responsibility for my conduct.” AP Keller was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots. Reuters
The six-foot-six, 250-pound Keller stayed inside the Capitol for nearly an hour, chanting “F–k Nancy Pelosi!” and “F–k Chuck Schumer!” and resisted officers’ efforts to remove him from the building, the feds argued in the filing.
He only took off after police deployed Mace and other teams, prosecutors added.
Keller was also allegedly seen with a group pushing police as they forced their way into the Capitol Rotunda to try and stop the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results.
Keller is seen on video storming the Capitol while wearing a Team USA jacket. Julio Rosa/Townhall.com via Storyful
Still, prosecutors acknowledged that Keller turned himself in within a week of the riots, cooperated with the feds during the three years his case was pending – providing “tremendous help” in the process – and showed remorse for his actions.
At the time of the guilty plea, Keller’s attorney, Edward McMahon Jr. said his client was “trying to make up for his terrible mistake… [he] want to start his life again.”
The former swimmer took a plea deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop six other charges first brought against him in February 2021 including disorderly conduct, entering a prohibited building and obstructing law enforcement.
Keller is a five-time medalist who is on a team with Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Reuters
Keller resigned his position as a Colorado real estate broker following his arrest.
The lightning-quick swimmer won the gold medal in the 4×200 meter relay at the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004 and repeated the feat in Beijing in 2008.
He also won silver in the same event at the Sydney Games in 2000.
He also won individual bronze medals in the 400 meters freestyle in Sydney and Athens.
Keller’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Friday afternoon.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
