Southern Minnesota man pleads guilty for role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A Blue Earth, Minn., man pleaded guilty Tuesday to being at the front of the crowd with other supporters of then-President Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol more than three years ago.

Paul Orta Jr., 35, entered his plea in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to civil disorder and aiding and abetting. A criminal complaint filed in November, laden with photographs, showed Orta tossing aside police barricades, rushing toward a line of officers and going into restricted areas of the Capitol as the House of Representatives was certifying Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump.

The plea agreement noted that federal sentencing guidelines call for Orta to receive a prison term ranging from eight to 14 months. However, federal judges have full discretion when sentencing defendants and are not bound by guidelines calculation.

Orta also agreed with the prosecution to make $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the U.S Capitol for his share of the nearly $3 million in damage to the building and its grounds during the mayhem.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7. In the meantime, Orta remains free on a personal recognizance bail.

According to a U.S. Justice Department database, Orta is the 14th Minnesotan charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Orta saw himself in a photo from the insurrection that the FBI posted online, according to the complaint, and went to the agency’s Minneapolis field office on Jan. 25, 2021, to acknowledge his participation.

In entering his plea, Orta admitted to the following account:

Orta arrived in a Washington suburb on Jan. 5, 2021, aboard a privately owned school bus sporting Trump 2020 graffiti that drew the attention of “a concerned citizen” who notified police. Officers pulled over the bus and determined its North Carolina registration had expired.

Orta and three others on the bus were checked for weapons and released. Soon afterward, the bus was stopped in Washington near the Capitol Mall by police, who searched the vehicle and found two guns and ammunition. Orta knew the guns were on the bus.

Video from police body cameras and other sources show Orta throwing a security barricade aside and “beckoning the remaining crowd beyond the perimeter to move forward,” the charges read. It was about then that the crowd began moving onto the Capitol grounds, overwhelming the officers and sending them into retreat.

Orta and others pushed ahead toward the Capitol and began pulling away metal bike racks that police were using to keep the intruders at bay. Orta made it to the top of a concrete wall, where he stood with fist raised.