Judge rejects delay until Trump’s in office, sentences Minnesotan for role in Jan. 6 insurrection

A judge on Friday rejected a southern Minnesota man’s plea to have his sentence delayed in hopes of receiving a pardon once President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, sentencing the defendant to six months of home detention for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Nicholas John Fuller, 41, of Mapleton was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after pleading guilty to a felony count of obstruction of law enforcement when he joined a mob that stormed the Capitol in a futile effort to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden as president.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also ordered Fuller to serve three years’ probation and pay $2,000 in restitution.

Also charged with joining Fuller in the attack and awaiting in January are Kenneth W. Fuller, 44, and his son, Caleb K. Fuller, 20, both of Cleveland, Minn. The older men are brothers.

Police body camera videos show the Fullers on the west outdoor plaza of the Capitol during the riot. They all were seen resisting police officers, according to the charges.

In one video, as officers repeatedly ordered rioters to get back, Kenneth Fuller turned and yelled, “Hey guys, they’re getting ready to push! They’re getting ready to push, guys!”

At 4:24 p.m., a video shows the three men descending the stairs and approaching the police line, where Nicholas Fuller and Caleb Fuller push against officers to prevent them from moving forward, according to prosecutors.

Defense attorney Michelle Peterson filed a motion Friday with Kollar-Kotelly to have the sentencing postponed until after the other Fullers stand trial and Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, in part, because “President-elect Trump, who played an integral role in the events of January 6, 2021, has repeatedly publicly stated that he will pardon January 6 protestors should he win the presidency.”

Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed to the bench in 1997 by President Bill Clinton, turned down the delay and went ahead with the sentencing, the latest of a handful of Jan. 6 defendants since Trump’s victory.

In a presentencing report, , prosecutors asked the court to send Nicholas Fuller to prison for 11 months, a sentence that fell within the federal guideline range of eight to 14 months.

“[Nicholas] Fuller and his family were at the forefront of a throng of rioters intent on confronting and resisting the ever-increasing police force assembled to clear the Capitol Grounds,” the prosecutors said.

The married father of six and road construction worker said he spontaneously decided to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, which preceded the insurrection. He paid for the trip with government economic stimulus checks he received during the COVID-19 pandemic, the filing continued.

Fuller spent 50 minutes within full view of the police line at the Capitol “alternately praying, chanting, and documenting with his phone his illegal presence inside the restricted area,” according to the prosecution filing. “[Nicholas] Fuller pressed against [one officer’s] riot shield jostling with the police officer for approximately 20 seconds.”

Another video showed a line of officers moving forward, trying to force the crowd down the Capitol steps with their shields, and Kenneth Fuller bracing his back and right arm against the shields, resisting the officers, according to prosecutors.

Buttressing their argument before sentencing, prosecutors also raised Nicholas Fuller’s criminal history, which includes convictions for theft, auto theft, first-degree property damage, disorderly conduct and drunken driving.

The defense countered with its request to spare him prison and insted serve three years’ probation and pay the $2,000 in restitution.

Fuller “has from the beginning acknowledged the wrongfulness of his conduct and has expressed a desire to plead guilty,” the defense wrote to the court.

The defense said he attended the the rally “because he believed there were irregularities in the election, which is what he had been hearing on the news and in his community. He wanted to support Trump by showing up to the rally.”

Addressing the prosecution pointing out that he pushed on an officer’s riot shield, the defense wrote, “Mr. Fuller was chatting with and smiling at [the officer] when he put his hands on the shield. [The officer] gently pushed the shield a few inches forward, and [Nicholas] Fuller gently pushed it back.

“The two did a little back and forth like this and that was the end of it. This interaction was nonaggressive and non-threatening, albeit a stupid thing to do.”

According to federal records, Fuller is one of 14 Minnesotans charged in connection with the Capitol attack. Overall, more than 1,500 people from nearly all 50 states have been charged; including more than 560 who have been accused of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.