Alabama Man Gets 4 Years In Prison For Jan. 6-Related Charges

FALKVILLE, AL — An Alabama man will serve nearly four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to bringing a truck full of firearms, explosives and other weapons to Washington, D.C., ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Lonnie L. Coffman, 72, of Falkville, was sentenced Friday to 46 months in prison after he parked his truck less than a half-mile from the U.S. Capitol where, on the afternoon of Jan. 6, a joint session of Congress was scheduled to certify the 2020 presidential election.

In the truck were 11 Mason jars filled with gasoline and Styrofoam, several unregistered firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammo, a stun gun, machetes and a crossbow with bolts, according to court documents.

"He had almost a small armory in his truck, ready to do battle," Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said before sentencing Coffman, according to a CNN report.

During the sentencing, Kollar-Kotelly said she didn't think "in all my years as a judge I've had such a collection of weapons" in a case, adding that Coffman "spent two tours in Vietnam so he certainly knows what napalm can do," CNN reported.

According to federal officials, Coffman drove his GMC Sierra pickup truck to Washington, D.C., several days prior to Jan. 6. On the morning of Jan. 6, he parked the truck in the 300 block of First Street Southeast, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Coffman also carried a loaded handgun and a loaded revolver as he walked around the area that day, officials said. In a search of Coffman’s Alabama residence later that month, authorities discovered 12 additional Mason jars containing ignitable substances and parts to make Molotov cocktails.

Coffman did not have a license to carry a pistol in the District of Columbia and had not registered any firearms or destructive devices, officials said.

Coffman said he never intended to hurt anybody or destroy any property. He said he drove to Washington alone “to try to discover just how true and secure was the (2020 presidential) election.”

“If I had any idea that things would turn out like they did, I would have stayed home,” he wrote in a handwritten letter to the judge.

More than 770 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot, when supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to disrupt lawmakers' formal certification of his re-election defeat. Five people died and scores of Capitol Police officers were seriously injured.

Over 240 participants in the attack have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of six months imprisonment. More than 130 have been sentenced. Coffman is one of nine defendants whose prison sentence exceeds one year.

Coffman, who served in the U.S. Army, pleaded guilty in November to possession of an unregistered firearm and carrying a pistol without a license. He isn't accused of entering the Capitol or joining the mob during the riot that day.

Coffman, who has been in jail since his arrest on Jan. 6, 2021, will get credit for time served, CNN reported. He was also sentenced to three years of probation and mandatory mental health treatment. Coffman struggles with depression as well as a series of health issues, including chronic pain throughout his body, according to CNN.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.