Man seen with Pelosi lectern on Jan. 6 pleads guilty

The man photographed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) lectern during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has pleaded guilty.

Adam Johnson, 36, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, according to The Washington Post.

The parties involved with the case settled on sentencing guidelines that include zero to six months in prison, along with fines ranging from $500 to $9,500. The government did not ask that Johnson be held ahead of his sentencing, the Post reported.

Johnson was also charged with one count of theft of government property and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, but those charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to the first charge, according to the Post.

Also part of Johnson’s plea deal is guidelines for a book or “something of that nature” that the defendant is considering writing about his experience on Jan. 6, according to the Post. The government will be able to collect any profit that Johnson receives from that product for five years.

Johnson said at Monday’s plea hearing that he “got caught up in the moment” and had gone through a “hard couple of years” that led him to spending time “listening to a lot of information and reading things” online.

Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton made headlines at Johnson’s plea hearing when he knocked former President Trump for his assertions that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

The judge compared Trump to former Vice President Al Gore, who conceded to President George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential race following weeks of legal battles due to the close vote tally in Florida.

“Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump and he was a man about what happened to him,” Walton said, according to CNN. “He accepted it and walked away.”

The judge also said he was concerned that Johnson may commit similar crimes in the future because he was “gullible enough” to travel to Washington based on the false claims of election fraud.

“I have concerns about whether you will be gullible when something like this arises again,” he added. “That concerns me, it really does, because we are in a troubled situation as a country.”

Johnson traveled from Tampa, Fla. to Washington on Jan. 5, ahead of the “Stop the Steal” rally that was convened in support of Trump, according to the Post. He then walked to the Capitol, along with others in a crowd, where the riot ultimately took place.

Johnson entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door, took a photo beside a sign that said “Closed to all tours,” then posed for photos with Pelosi’s lectern in hand, according to a court filing cited by the Post.