WASHINGTON — Three people from the St. Louis area have been sentenced in federal court for participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S Capitol.
William Merry, his niece Emily Hernandez and friend Paul Westover received sentences Monday morning. All three had entered guilty pleas.
Merry, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to 45 days in prison with nine months of supervised release and 80 hours of community service. He also has to pay $500 in restitution and a $10 special assessment fee.
Prosecutors argued that Merry should be held to a stronger sentence than his two companions because he could be seen on video urging his niece forward by the jacket past police barricades and encouraging her to pick up the plaque.
Videos from Merry's iPad also caught him talking about the federal facility before the first rioters ascended the steps, saying "There it is. There it is, people. That's our building. We own it. I think we're going to go take it back today. You know all these people... F*** you. We're going in the front door. They ain't going to stop us. Four more years."
Westover, of Lake St. Louis, was sentenced to 45 days and ordered to pay $500 in restitution, plus a $10 special assessment fee. He has 30 days to surrender himself. There is no term of supervised release after he serves his sentence.
Westover argued to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg that he was pushed forward by the crowd, recording history instead of participating in it, a claim the Boasberg denied, saying "There are some people who showed up late after everything had happened, wandered through the Capitol and might be argued that they were mere curiosity seekers. But that is not you."
Hernandez, of Sullivan, was sentenced to 30 days with one year of supervised release and 80 hours of community service. She must surrender herself by June 15. She too has to pay $500 in restitution and a $10 special assessment fee. The judge agreed to recommend she serve her time at the St. Louis County Justice Center.
Hernandez was given more time to self-surrender due to an ongoing fatal car crash case. According to a crash report the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the 22-year-old was driving a Volkswagen Passat the wrong way on Interstate 44 in Franklin County back on Jan. 5 when she crashed head-on into a Buick Enclave, killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver. She was charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated: one resulting in death and one resulting in serious physical injury.
Merry admitted to traveling to Washington, D.C. with Hernandez and Westover to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. After marching to the Capitol, Merry, Westover and Hernandez saw rioters break through police barricades and storm the Capitol.
In his plea, Merry said they entered the Senate Wing door to the Capitol before making their way to the House Speaker’s suite. Merry said he saw someone rip a sign that said “Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi” off the entryway and a second person smash the sign against the wall.
He said he then encouraged his niece to pick up a piece of the sign, and the pair held it up for a video that was shared widely on social media.
Federal prosecutors alleged Westover also entered the Senate wing of the Capitol, including an area of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, during the insurrection. He was in the building for about 35 minutes.
Westover's Lake St. Louis home was the scene of an FBI investigation back in February. He was quickly identified in a viral video from inside the Capitol by St. Louis social media users who first noticed the Blues hat he wore while holding up part of the broken signage from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.