A man from Florida who was once a member of a white supremacist prison group pleaded guilty on Monday for his involvement in the January 6 riot.
He was once a part of a gang when he was detained for an attempted murder charge, and is set to be freed this week following his six-month jail term connected to the Capitol riot.
The suspect, Michael Curzio, was one of the more than 500 people arrested with federal crimes charges and was served with jail terms. Cruzio was detained since January 14 and faced six-month detention following his guilty plea. He, however, was credited for the period he was locked up and was scheduled to be released on Wednesday.
Cruzio, who was freed in 2019 from a prison in Florida after he served an eight-year jail term for attempted murder, was caught in Summerfield, Florida over his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot. According to court records, the suspect has shot his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend at her home.
While he only faced misdemeanor charges during the riot, his criminal record was cited by the prosecutors for his stay in jail.
In court documents, the authorities said that Curzio was among the “Unforgiven”, a violent supremacist group when he was still detained in Florida. He also has tattoos that show images linked to the Nazis.
During the riot, Curzio was one of the people in the crowd close to the House atrium, authorities say. He was among the crowd that refused to leave, Associated Press News reported.
On Monday, his attorney argued that Curzio’s sentence was “harsher than it should have been” due to his criminal record.
“He didn’t attack anybody. He didn’t break anything. He was just walking around the building like a lot of other people were,” his attorney said in an interview.
