Capitol rioter may be trying to delay sentencing because he likes jail, prosecutors claim

Federal prosecutors claim a Capitol rioter trying to delay his sentencing may be doing so because he enjoys being locked up.

Capitol rioter Brandon Fellows represented himself during his trial, and was ultimately convicted. He told jurors that the day of the riot was a "beautiful day" and that he was happy that lawmakers feared for their lives, NBC News reports.

“We had to take the election back. It was stolen,” he told the jurors. He also called the judge presiding over his case a Nazi.

He told jurors during the trial that he was autistic and had been at some point diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and ADHD.

After he was convicted, prosecutors announced they would seek to jail Fellows for 37 months, the maximum under the sentencing guidelines.

However, Fellows has requested to delay his sentencing by several months. If he were granted that request, he could possibly spend more time locked up than he was actually sentenced to serve.

In a filing on Thursday, prosecutors pushed back against his request, arguing that it "is not in the interest of justice" to grant the delay "but, given his statement during a hearing on 13 December, 2023, that he was in no rush to proceed to sentencing, remaining incarcerated may be the defendant's goal."

Fellows was one of a small group of Capitol riot defendants who was held in pre-trial detention even though he had not been charged with assaulting a police officer or conspiracy. He initially was released on bond but was sent back to detention after he violated the conditions of his release several times.

Fellows has described Bureau of Prisons facilities as “awesome and very fun” and that he preferred being in prison because there were weight rooms, classes, and nutritional food.

“The Government has no doubt that he would like to delay his sentencing by any means necessary,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “The defendant has demonstrated that he is in no particular hurry for his case to conclude, even though he is in custody.”

Prosecutors said that Fellows has “used every chance he has gotten — in media interviews, his social media, and through his trial testimony — to insist that his actions were perfectly lawful and justified, despite knowing it was not.”

He may also be trying to delay his sentencing until another case involving a Capitol rioter makes it through the Supreme Court.

In that case, Capitol riot defendant Joseph Fischer is seeking to have a charge of obstructing an official proceeding dismissed by the court. Fellows faces a similar charge, and may be trying to delay his sentencing until that matter is resolved.