WASHINGTON — A Northern Virginia man who was a fugitive from his Jan. 6 case for more than a year-and-a-half before turning himself in to federal authorities was sentenced Friday to 60 days in prison.
Michael Gareth Adams, 28, of Springfield, Virginia, was arrested in April 2021 on four misdemeanor counts after the FBI received tips from multiple witnesses – including one who reported Adams had bragged he was one of the first people to enter the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Adams can be seen in images and video from the riot entering the building with a Trump flag in one hand and a longboard with the other before making his way to the Senate parliamentarian’s office. Investigators said Adams can be seen in police body-worn camera footage still on the grounds of the Capitol hours later.
Adams was released on his own recognizance following his arrest but failed to appear for multiple subsequent hearings as well as hearings in an unrelated case in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was found guilty in absentia of driving without a license and failure to appear on May 18, 2021, in Fairfax County General Court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. A second bench warrant was issued for his arrest on July 16, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly.
On Jan. 5, 2023 – a year-and-a-half later – Adams self-surrendered to authorities and was placed on home detention with GPS monitoring. Two of his family members were designated as court-appointed custodians. He pleaded guilty in May of this year to a class “B” misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
On Friday, Adams appeared again before Kelly and was sentenced to 60 days in prison — in line with a recommendation made by the U.S. Probation Office and a month less than prosecutors sought. Kelly said Adams' track record warranted time behind bars.
"The record is consistent with someone who's pretty off the rails," Kelly said.
While many defendants who’ve pleaded guilty to the same charge have received probationary sentences, federal prosecutors argued Adams should serve 90 days behind bars. They cited his lengthy period as a fugitive, as well as a prior felony conviction in Fairfax County, Virginia, for sale and distribution of marijuana. Adams was sentenced in March 2019 to a suspended term of five years in prison and three years of supervised probation. Prosecutors noted in their memo that while that probation term was ended early by a judge in October 2020, his conduct on Jan. 6 still fell within the five years of his suspended sentence.
Adams was been represented in his Jan. 6 case by the Federal Public Defender’s Office in D.C. In the defense’s sentencing memo, chief assistant federal public defender Michelle Peterson asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to time served or probation only.
“Even in the face of others acting violently, he did not join in their activity, although he did enter the Parliamentarian’s office briefly. He was in the Capitol for a total of about 19 minutes,” Peterson wrote. “He fully acknowledges that he was wrong to go into the Capitol and he regrets doing so.”
Peterson’s memo was accompanied by multiple letters from members of Adams’ church and one from his supervisor at work attesting to his “transformation” since his arrest.
“I have seen him change in front of my very own two eyes,” the supervisor at the tire and auto repair shop where Adams works wrote. “Words couldn’t possibly describe his transformation, but he has found god, stopped drinking, and stopped smoking. He is thriving to be the very best version of himself very successfully.”
Adams will receive credit for nine days he served in jail in January after turning himself in. Kelly allowed him to self-report at a later date.