WASHINGTON — The Justice Department wants two brothers from Virginia Beach to serve jail time for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Prosecutors filed their sentencing memos Tuesday for brothers Eric and Paul VonBernewitz. Both pleaded guilty in January to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In the memo for Eric, prosecutors say the 47-year-old furniture company owner should serve two weeks in jail followed by 36 months of probation. That’s what’s known as a split sentence – comprised of both jail time and probation – and judges on the D.C. District Court have disagreed over whether it’s allowed for Class “B” misdemeanor defendants like the VonBernewitzes.
Both VonBernewitzes were among the first rioters to breach metal barriers on Jan. 6. They then entered the building after watching other rioters break windows. Prosecutors say the brothers stayed inside for 14 minutes. They also say Eric downplayed his own culpability in the riot while speaking with the FBI and posted about “wild conspiracy theories” and the need to “round up the globalists” on Twitter.
The memo for Paul, 51, argues his conduct was more serious and therefore warrants 45 days in jail, along with 36 months of probation. Unlike Eric, prosecutors say, Paul actively joined the crowd in pushing against the metal barriers while police were attempting to hold the line.
In his own memo, Eric argued a fine without jail time or probation would be more appropriate. His attorney, Austin Manghan, said Eric had lost his ability to work following his arrest because his company sells furniture to military bases – which he is currently barred from. Manghan described Eric’s life prior to the Capitol riot as a “success story.” Eric, he said, lost the use of his right arm at age 8 as a result of a car crash. Despite that, Eric became the managing member of a successful company that sells furniture to the military and, in 2017, founded the Virginia Wrestling Club.
Paul’s attorney, Eric Grindrod, argued his client was a “good guy who sometimes gets caught up in the moment” and said he wouldn’t have been at the Capitol at all if not for his brother, who invited him. Grindrod said Paul is regretful for his actions, which, he said, were not the result of premeditation.
“In his interview with the FBI, Paul described the scene as having the feel of a rock concert,” Grindrod wrote in his sentencing memo. “It seems quite likely that Paul would have acted the same way on January 6th if he was part of a crowd at a ballpark, rock concert or political rally. His conduct was impulsive, irresponsible and inexcusable. But it was not thoughtfully directed at achieving some political goal.”
Grindrond also noted Paul entered the Capitol at “essentially the same moment” as another defendant, Matthew Martin, who was acquitted of all charges earlier this month. In that case, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden found it was plausible that Martin believed officers had let him in to the building.
McFadden won’t be the judge deciding the VonBernewitzes’ sentence, however. The brothers are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper on April 26 for sentencing.
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