WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Republican candidate for Michigan governor to two months behind bars for joining a mob's Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, where he riled up other rioters and ripped a tarp outside the building.
, who finished fourth in a primary field of five Republican gubernatorial candidates last year, to a misdemeanor for his role in the siege.
Several months before his guilty plea, Kelley posted on social media that the Capitol riot was an FBI 鈥渟et up." His campaign posted the words 鈥減olitical prisoner鈥 on Facebook after .
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper told Kelley that he misused his platform as a candidate for public office by promoting lies about election fraud, including the baseless claim that Jan. 6 was somehow part of an FBI plot.
鈥淎 lot of folks voted for you. A lot of folks followed you,鈥 Cooper said before sentencing Kelley to 60 days of imprisonment and ordering him to pay a $5,000 fine.
Kelley, 42, traveled from Allendale, Michigan, to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President 鈥淪top the Steal鈥 rally near the White House on Jan. 6. Kelley told the judge that he wanted to see 鈥渞eceipts" supporting Trump's claims that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him, the Republican incumbent.
鈥淭hose receipts never came,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat is a betrayal, and I was misled into believing those things."
But he said he doesn't blame Trump for his conduct on Jan. 6.
鈥淗e did invite us there, but my actions were my actions,鈥 Kelley said.
Kelley, a real estate broker, isn鈥檛 accused of engaging in violence on Jan. 6. But federal prosecutors said he helped breach scaffolding, stirred up the mob with his shouts and gestured for other rioters to move closer to the Capitol and to police officers guarding the building.
Kelley pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, a charge punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of one year.
Prosecutors recommended sentencing Kelley to three months of incarceration.
鈥淢r. Kelley engaged in not just a bad decision but a series of bad decisions that day,鈥 a prosecutor, Shanai Watson, said.
Kelley's arrest roiled what was already for the governor's race. Conservative commentator won the Republican primary but ultimately lost to incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, last November.
Kelley spoke at a 鈥淪top the Steal鈥 rally at the state Capitol in Lansing in November 2020, shortly after the presidential election. Kelley urged others at the rally to 鈥渟tand and fight, with the goal of preventing Democrats from stealing the election,鈥 the FBI said.
After attending Trump's rally on Jan. 6, he marched to the Capitol and joined a crowd that formed on the West Plaza, where flash bang grenades exploded near him.
Kelley and other rioters climbed through scaffolding covered by a white tarp. Surveillance video captured him tearing the tarp.
鈥淓ven though his rip of the tarp was relatively modest, it extended an already existing hole in the tarp and widened the opening through which some rioters advanced on the Capitol Building,鈥
Kelley remained on Capitol grounds for nearly two hours but isn't accused of entering the building that day.
鈥淢r. Kelley understands and appreciates that he never should have participated in the protests that turned into a riot that day and that such violence has no place in our democracy,鈥 .
At a debate last year, Kelley said the riot was 鈥渁 First Amendment activity by a majority of those people, myself included.鈥
鈥淲e were there protesting the government because we don鈥檛 like the results of the 2020 election, the process of how it happened. And we have that First Amendment right. And that鈥檚 what 99% of the people were there for that day,鈥 he said.
In a court filing after the primary loss, Kelley's lawyers said was 鈥渟till actively involved in political issues throughout the state of Michigan, and is contemplating whether he will run for a different state or federal position.鈥
Defense attorney Gary Springstead said on Tuesday that Kelley 鈥渨ants nothing to do with politics at this point.鈥 Kelley told the judge that he wants to focus on his business and his family.
. More than 800 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury or judge after contested trials. Nearly 700 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from three days to .
Also on Tuesday, a woman who smashed a window at the Capitol and used a bullhorn to direct other rioters on Jan. 6 was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered to pay restitution and a fine totaling nearly $8,000.
In July, Lamberth heard testimony without a jury before he . A prosecutor has said Powell, 41, of Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, played a 鈥渓eading role鈥 during the riot.
