Rochester woman receives 10 days in prison, three months' home detention for Jan. 6 role

A Rochester woman who pleaded guilty to one felony count of interfering with law enforcement on Jan. 6 was sentenced Monday to 10 days in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington.

U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates also sentenced Victoria C. White, 41, a receptionist, to three months of home confinement and two years of supervised release.

Prosecutors sought a four-month prison sentence for White followed by three years of supervised release, according to court documents. The defense asked for no prison time and three months of home detention.

On Jan. 6, 2021, White wore a red baseball cap with the slogan "Make America Great Again" in white letters as she, one of her daughters and friends boarded a Washington, D.C., metro train to attend former President Donald Trump's "Save America" rally on the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House. Trump falsely claimed he had won the presidential election in November and was trying to keep now-President Joe Biden from taking office.

At 3:30 p.m., White joined the mob on the west side of the Capitol building, pushing toward the tunnel where dozens of law enforcement were beaten and assaulted as they protected the entrance, the prosecution's sentencing memo read.

She looked on as rioters pushed against police and hoisted another rioter over the crowd as he used his feet to kick at police, the memo read. White pushed forcefully through a group of people, losing her jacket, hat, the flag tied around her shoulder and her shoes in the process, prosecutors wrote.

She was detained by police and released that night. Prosecutors said she then made statements on social media expressing pride for her role in the riot and blaming police for using force.

The prosecution memo also noted her "significant criminal history," including convictions for assault and disorderly conduct and drunken driving in 2008 and 2013.

She has a more recent disorderly conduct charge pending from December 2022. White also violated the conditions of her release by planning to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with families of other Jan. 6 defendants and members of Congress. Prosecutors said she was ordered to stay out of D.C. unless she received specific permission to visit.

In their sentencing memo, defense attorneys said White took responsibility by pleading guilty in August. They said the charges against her were unusually tough compared with other defendants given that she didn't enter the Capitol building until caught by law enforcement nor did she destroy property, her attorneys wrote.

She was initially charged with felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a capitol building.

In seeking leniency, defense attorneys Zach Crowder and Brad Hansen detailed White's difficult childhood and life in their memo.

The youngest of 10 children, her parents divorced before she was born. By the time she was 3 months old, both parents had abandoned her, leaving her to be raised by older sisters who struggled to provide for her. One sister's husband was physically and verbally abusive to White, the lawyers said.

After graduating from high school in 2000, White became a certified nursing assistant and gave birth to a daughter in 2003 and another in 2005. The father of her second child is in prison for murder. She had two more children for whom she is the primary caretaker.

White also is "lucky to be alive" after a 10-year relationship with a man who inflicted 'extreme abuse' on her that included a skull fracture and broken foot, the defense attorney wrote. White has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which she manages with medication, they wrote.

The defense attorneys didn't respond to requests for comment.