(Tribune News Service) — More North Texans were convicted of federal crimes in 2023 for taking part in the historic and violent siege of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

As cases move toward resolution in Washington, D.C., federal courts, local men and women have been the subject of guilty pleas, trials, prison sentences and even some new arrests.

About 35 people from North Texas have been charged in the Capitol riot. The majority have been convicted and sentenced. Some are serving a few months in prison. Some got probation. The longest sentence — 18 years — went to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes of Granbury, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy charges.

Their backgrounds are varied and diverse. They include a 51-year-old Collin County man fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese; a 53-year-old motorcycle mechanic and YouTube content creator from Fort Worth; and a 63-year-old comic book artist and art restorer from Garland.

A Fort Worth rioter wore a gas mask and an Infowars cap, advertising the media company of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Another wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap with the word, “GOD,” written at the top in marker.

A Collin County man got into a standoff with police when told to turn himself in and then threatened to kill himself and shot at officers. A Granbury woman, a lawyer for the Oath Keepers, is undergoing treatment at a federal prison to restore her competency before her case can move forward, court records show.

The violent siege and numerous clashes almost three years ago on the U.S. Capitol grounds injured more than 100 police officers and caused about $3 million in damage, prosecutors said. Nationwide, more than 1,230 people have been charged, including more than 440 accused of assaulting or impeding police.

The breach of the Capitol came after Trump and others said the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump, who faces several criminal charges, is the Republican frontrunner for the 2024 nomination.

Sentencing memos and defense motions for the North Texas defendants provide details of their motivations, regrets and even some outrage over their prosecution.

Many professed to be deeply religious, like 35-year-old web designer Daniel Goodwyn, whose attorney quoted from the Bible in asking a federal judge for mercy.

“This memorandum instead will follow Ephesians 4:31-32, and ask for the Court’s consideration where that tells us ‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you,’” his attorney, Carolyn Stewart, wrote in a May 2023 sentencing memo.

Goodwyn also appeared on Fox News in March to ask the public for financial donations for Jan. 6 defendants like him, court records said.

“Goodwyn minimized his conduct on January 6, showed a complete lack of remorse, and attempted to curry sympathy with viewers to get them to visit this website and give him money,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Haag wrote in a court filing.

Stewart responded by saying she didn’t know why the government was so upset about her client’s TV appearance, which came shortly after he pleaded guilty.

“Mr. [Tucker] Carlson wanted to help January 6th defendants,” she wrote. “The government unfairly insinuates that the defense was running the show.”

Goodwyn wasn’t the only local defendant to make their case to the public in media interviews and documentaries.

Luke Russell Coffee, a Dallas actor accused of assaulting Capitol police with a crutch, gave media interviews while he awaits trial on several charges. A self-described devout Evangelical, he appeared in a documentary by conservative media organization The Epoch Times, questioning the motives behind the Jan. 6 prosecutions.

“I’m ready to do whatever God calls me to do,” Coffee says in the trailer.

Coffee’s lawyer said in an October 2023 court filing that he wants the option to argue self-defense before a jury.

‘Misguided’

Some defense attorneys called their North Texas clients’ actions “misguided patriotism.” Others suggested they fell victim to a sort of indoctrination.

“After Mr. [Garret] Miller stopped working, he began to feel marginalized and, sitting at home all day long, he became fixated regarding the various election conspiracy claims that spread on the internet like a plague,” said Dallas lawyer Clint Broden in a court filing.

Miller, 37, of Richardson, was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

In a letter to the judge, Miller wrote that it saddened him on Jan. 6 to see a fence built around the Capitol.

“The fact that I worsened the situation that day and after, rather than helped be a solution will haunt me. I feel a deep remorse for not being helpful to police that day and aiding in destruction and pain. It was unnecessary, barbaric, and disrespectful. I was proud, arrogant, and acted in anger. I needed to be humbled. My social media posts were disgusting and a complete embarrassment.”

Most local defendants either were first-time offenders or had minor criminal records. They said they were caught up in the moment.

Robert Wayne Dennis, 63, of Garland, called it the “dumbest thing” he had ever done and an “out-of-body experience” in which he couldn’t stop himself. The graphic artist punched and tackled one of the officers trying to defend the Capitol building and was sentenced to three years in prison.

In at least one case, the government sought a terrorism enhancement.

Military service

Some of the people charged were veterans or the children of veterans.

Prosecutors called prior military service a “double-edged sword,” saying their service was commendable, but their actions violated their oaths to protect and defend the nation.

“By virtue of his training and education, [Matthew] DaSilva knew better than most that what he was doing on January 6 was wrong. His actions violated his oath to defend and support the Constitution and betrayed the ideals and values of the Navy that DaSilva once swore to uphold,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Boyles wrote in her October 2023 sentencing memo.

DaSilva, a Navy veteran from Lavon, was convicted of several charges following a bench trial and was awaiting sentencing as of late December. Prosecutors are seeking up to 41 months in prison, court records say.

Daniel Ray Caldwell, 52, of The Colony, is a decorated former U.S. Marine.

That did not impress the prosecutor in his case, who said the former Texas Instruments employee came prepared for battle and sprayed a line of police officers guarding the Capitol building with a chemical irritant.

“This Court should not treat Caldwell more leniently because he once took an oath to defend the Constitution years before subverting it. Caldwell misused his training and service when he used his skills to battle police,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Peterson wrote.

Caldwell is serving more than five years in federal prison after being sentenced in February.

A common theme in government court filings was that Dallas-area Jan. 6 defendants showed little or no remorse. Prosecutors expressed concern that many might once again turn to violence in an attempt to achieve political goals.

“More than a year later, he is still active on social media, falling prey to conspiracy theories about elections and ominously predicting ‘chaos,’” a prosecutor wrote about one North Texas rioter in a January 2023 court filing.

Another, Daniel Phipps, a 50-year-old security guard from Garland, advocated for violence against the government in social media posts in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 riot. During the riot, Phipps threatened a group of officers, telling them: “You know this isn’t the end. You know this isn’t over. … This is just the beginning!” according to court records.

Two days later, he boasted about his actions in Washington, saying he “helped take the Hill,” prosecutors said. And a few days after that, he posted a pronouncement that was off the mark.

“For those who may be wondering, no, the FBI is NOT after me because I’m on video fighting with Antifa and cooperating with law enforcement. I exercised my 1st Amendment rights.”

Phipps was sentenced to a little more than two years in prison.

Of those who went to trial, many requested a judge decide their fate rather than make their case to a jury from the Washington, D.C., area, which is known for being liberal.

Shame and embarrassment

Even those who played minor roles in the Jan. 6 riot suffered various indignities and humiliations.

Jacob Garcia was arrested in March 2022 at his sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner in front of his family at the popular Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant in Fort Worth, court records said. The Cleburne man missed the wedding the next day and spent the remainder of the weekend behind bars.

Garcia, who scaled the walls outside the Capitol and breached the building, was sentenced to two years of probation for his misdemeanor conviction, court records show. After the riot, Garcia boasted online that his only regret was not grabbing some Capitol souvenirs, authorities said.

Robert Jenkins, an attorney for Caldwell, summed up what he believed were the feelings of many of the Jan. 6 defendants.

“Each such defendant will forever be branded a felon. The shame and embarrassment will reside with them well after any prison sentence is served,” he wrote in a court filing. “The negative attention brought to their families will not abate for the foreseeable future. Few in our society would welcome such notoriety.”

Marina Medvin, the attorney for DaSilva, said those like her client were subjected to hundreds of thousands of news articles about their arrests and prosecutions.

“On top of that, the DOJ has created unique public-shaming web pages for every January 6 defendant, a digital version of tar and feathering,” she wrote in her October 2023 sentencing memo.

Thomas John Ballard, 53, of Fort Worth, assaulted officers with a baton, tabletop and metal pole and was sentenced in December 2023 to more than four years in prison.

Before the riot, the motorcycle mechanic created a YouTube channel where he posted videos of himself working on motorcycles as well as other content, his lawyer said. The channel has 2,400 subscribers and his videos “have been viewed tens of thousands of times,” said his lawyer, Michael Lawlor.

Nathan Donald Pelham, 41, co-owner of a home construction and renovation business, is a felon with a lengthy criminal history. He was charged with misdemeanors for storming the Capitol. When agents told him to turn himself in, Pelham refused and engaged in a lengthy armed standoff at his rural home with Hunt County sheriff’s deputies in April 2023. He threatened to kill himself and fired at police, records show.

Pelham’s attorney wrote in a filing his client had a “difficult and traumatic childhood.” A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced him in September to time served for the Capitol breach, and a Dallas federal judge sentenced him in November to two years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.

New arrests

Three more North Texans have been arrested since October 2023, nearly three years after the riot.

Paul Thomas Brinson, 65, of Flower Mound, breached the Capitol during the riots, agents said. The mainframe developer awaits trial while free on a personal recognizance bond.

Kyle Douglas McMahan, 41, an Air Force staff sergeant from Watauga, was arrested in December. While wearing a MAGA hat with “God” written on it, he grabbed the fingers of an officer, “appearing to crush them in his hand,” authorities said.

He then grabbed and pushed an officer’s arm in the Rotunda in an attempt to push past them, according to court records.

Dana Jean Bell, 65, of Princeton, was arrested in December, accused of grabbing an officer’s baton after forcing her way into the Capitol. She was also seen on video assaulting members of the news media, court records show.

Attorneys for the three new defendants could not be reached for comment.

©2024 The Dallas Morning News.

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