PAYING THE PRICE

Trump Appointee Who Stormed Capitol Gets Serious Prison Time

Federico Klein, a former State Department official, was convicted of hitting an officer with a riot shield as he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump slapped a fellow Trump-appointee with a hefty prison sentence Friday, deciding former marine and State Department official Federico Klein deserved 70 months in the clink for storming the Capitol and striking officers with a riot shield. Klein, 44, was convicted of eight felonies in July. His charges stemmed from the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, where prosecutors said Klein was in the first wave of rioters who attacked and pushed past police to break into the U.S. Capitol. Later in the attack, Klein wedged a stolen police riot shield between two doors to keep them open for other insurrectionists to pile inside. He was also heard yelling, “We need fresh people” as rioters attacked police, prosecutors said. At Friday’s sentencing, Judge Trevor McFadden told Klein his actions “prolonged the mayhem” and that he was “front and center in that chaos.”