Montco Man Who Was Inside The U.S. Capitol On Jan. 6 Gets Two Weeks In Jail

EAST NORRITON, PA — A local man who was illegally inside the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot has been sentenced to two weeks in jail.

Brian Stenz, 51, of East Norriton Township, Montgomery County, must serve two weeks in jail followed by two months of house arrest under a sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell, sitting in the District of Columbia, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Stenz, who the Inquirer said had been caught on security footage vaping as he waded through the chaotic scene at the U.S. Capitol early last year, had pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor count of illegally parading, picketing or demonstrating on Capitol grounds, according to the plea agreement made public by federal prosecutors.

The U.S. government had filed a criminal complaint against Stenz in April charging him with the federal crime.

The Inquirer reported that Stenz is one of 12 people from Pennsylvania or New Jersey who have pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge of parading or demonstrating at the Capitol, and that so far only four people in that group have been sentenced to jail time, with the bulk being given house arrest or probation or a combination of both.

In court papers, federal prosecutors had laid out Stenz's involvement in the riot.

They said Stenz and a friend had traveled to D.C. to participate in the "Stop the Steal" rally and then marched on to the U.S. Capitol, where they entered the building around 2:45 p.m. and walked around for about eight minutes.

Stenz then sent a series of text messages containing photographs to several people, with the photos showing Stenz and his friend inside the building, and even inside the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

"Stenz knew at the time he entered the U.S. Capitol Building that that [sic] he did not have permission to enter the building and the defendant paraded, demonstrated, or picketed," reads a Statement of Offense submitted by Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips in November.