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Fairfield County resident Patrick Edward McCaughey III, age 25, of Ridgefield, was sentenced on Friday, April 14, to seven-and-a-half years in prison on nine offenses, said Matthew M. Graves, US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The 25-year-old McCaughey was found guilty following a bench trial in September 2022 along with co-defendants Tristan Chandler Stevens, age 26, of Pensacola, Florida; and David Mehaffie, age 63, of Kettering, Ohio, who are awaiting sentencing.
The US Attorney's Office said government evidence showed the three men illegally entered restricted grounds, breaking through the police line and scaling the southwest scaffolding and staircase to meet up at the tunnel created by the inaugural platform structure on the lower west terrace of the building.
US Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers guarded the entrance against rioters, including the three men, the report said.
According to the US Attorney, the three men attempted to break into the building by directing other rioters, participating in heave-hos against the police line, using riot shields stolen from the Capitol Police, and assaulting three specific officers.
Mehaffie hung from an archway and shouted directions from above, and McCaughey and Stevens were key players in the melee below.
McCaughey grabbed a riot shield and used it as a weapon to pin Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges in a door frame, government reports show.
McCaughey was convicted of nine felony and misdemeanor charges including:
- Three counts of aiding or abetting or assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, including one involving a dangerous weapon
- One count of obstruction of an official proceeding
- One count of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder
- One count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon
- One count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon
- Disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building
- Committing an act of violence in the Capitol Building or on grounds
In addition to the prison term, he was also ordered to serve 36 months of supervised release and restitution of $2,000.
The US Attorney's Office said the investigation into the riot at the US Capitol is ongoing, and anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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