Capitol rioter who smoked marijuana in a senator’s office sentenced to prison

A Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioter who smoked marijuana in a senator’s office was sentenced Thursday to more than three-and-a-half years in prison.

Schenectady, N.Y., native Brandon Fellows, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden to 37 months in prison, plus five months for a contempt of court charge.

He was convicted by a jury last August for a felony misdemeanor offense of entering and remaining in a “restricted building,” disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct in the Capitol building, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Fellows, a chimney repairman, entered the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot through a broken window. After briefly entering a congressional conference room, he got to Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-Ore.) office where he smoked marijuana. He then joined other rioters walking through the Capitol Crypt before later leaving the “same way he came.”

“There’s just a whole bunch of people lighting up in some Oregon room,” Fellows reportedly said at the time, according to the DOJ.

Fellows called Judge McFadden a “modern-day Nazi.”

“In all my years as a judge, and before that as a litigator, I have never seen such contemptuous conduct,” McFadden said during Thursday’s sentencing, referring to many times Fellows interrupted and insulted the judge, according to The Washington Post. 

“There is no grand conspiracy here against you,” McFadden said. “It’s time for you to grow up”

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,300 people have been charged related to the riot at the Capitol. More than 400 people were charged with assaulting law enforcement, according to the DOJ. The department’s investigation related to the breach is still ongoing.