WASHINGTON — A Maryland woman identified by the FBI after her husband posted a video of her inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 was sentenced to probation Monday for her role in the riot.
Nicole Prado pleaded guilty in November to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. She appeared before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Monday for sentencing.
In its memo arguing for two weeks of jail time, the Justice Department said Prado traveled through multiple levels of the Capitol – at one point entering an office used by the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst told Contreras that Prado was in the building when Ashli Babbitt was shot, and even filmed paramedics rushing her out of the building.
Prado took a number of photographs and videos while inside the Capitol. She sent some of those to her husband, who posted them to his own social media accounts along with the narration, “Please meet the new congresswoman… she, uh, she just was in the Capitol for the first time today. She stormed the Capitol, she’s the new congresswoman. She’s the new speaker of the House.” A tipster saw the videos and alerted the FBI.
Prado’s attorney, Joan Robin, told Contreras her client had gone to the Capitol to take photographs for a college project and that she was “virtually silent” during the riot. She also pushed back on the government’s claim that her client had attempted to hide evidence, saying Prado had only moved photographs from her phone to a thumb drive – which she then gave to Robin.
“If anyone should be held accountable for that, it’s me,” Robin said.
Robin said Prado had a difficult upbringing and described her as one of the “least culpable” defendants in the Capitol riot. She also pointed out she was one of the first to plead guilty in the case.
Contreras said he believed between the COVID-19 pandemic and Prado’s responsibilities as caregiver for her children, as well as her reported postpartum depression, he was convinced jail time wasn’t the appropriate punishment. Instead, he sentenced her to a year of probation and $500 in restitution. Prado will spend the first two months of her probation on a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.
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