Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello from Judge Thomas Hogan's virtual courtroom, where Jan. 6 defendants Joshua and Jessica Bustle are due to the sentenced shortly after pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor. Previously on those pleas: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

The govt is asking for one month of home confinement for Joshua Bustle (s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2103…) and three months of home confinement for Jessica Bustle (s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2103…), citing her "incendiary" language about what happened

Hogan says there shouldn't be a presumption of probation as the punishment in these misdemeanor-only cases related to the Capitol riots, so he tasks the defense with explaining why the Bustles shouldn't get any jail time

AUSA Michael Romano begins by saying some of the sentencing factors weigh in favor of incarceration for the Bustles — that the Capitol riot is not akin to cases of single protesters or small groups who briefly disrupt a congressional proceeding by yelling before being removed

Romano says no rioter acted in a vacuum, and that each person who walked into the Capitol that day made it that much harder for police to regain control of the situation and secure the building and make sure lawmakers were safe

Notably, Romano says that these factors (seriousness of offense, need to promote respect for the law, need for deterrence) will weigh in favor of incarceration for nearly everyone charged, even if it's solely for misdemeanor crimes

Other factors weigh against incarceration for the Bustles, Romano says, incl. no evidence of violence, early acceptance of responsibility, lack of criminal history. Romano says Jessica Bustle's defense of the riots afterwards and the language she used warrants stiffer penalty

Romano notes how resource-intensive the Capitol riot investigation is, and says that the Bustles' decision to plead guilty early speaks well for them. He also notes that Jessica Bustle is pregnant, and says that factored into the govt's thinking here in recc'ing home confinement

Hogan asks about how the Bustles compare to the four other defs sentenced so far. Romano notes Karl Dresch/Michael Curzio had been detained pretrial, which wasn't an issue here, and argues Anna Morgan-Lloyd's Facebook posts were less incendiary than Jessica Bustle's

Hogan notes that Anna Morgan-Lloyd went on Fox News after being sentenced and appeared to walk back some of the remorse she showed in court (M-L's lawyer claims she was unfairly portrayed) — judge says he's concerned "whether you’re getting true acceptance of responsibility..."

Joshua Bustle's lawyer argues it's unfair to call him a Capitol rioter because he didn't participate in a riot (no damage, no violence). Judge Hogan pushes back, noting alarms were going off, pepper spray in the air, masses of people: "This was not a normal situation."

Hogan, like Judge Amy Berman Jackson this morning, says the Bustles weren't "tourists" (the line isn't super clear at times so I didn't get that full quote)

Joshua Bustle's lawyer argues he's exactly like Anna Morgan-Lloyd, who got probation, and the only difference is that she's a grandmother. He continues to press the arg that it's unfair to call everyone there a rioter, and says Joshua Bustle lost his job and they've had to move

Romano responds and defends calling all defendants "rioters" echoing Hogan's remarks that anyone entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 would have been aware of the broader context of the riot unfolding at the time

Jessica Bustle's lawyer also tries to compare her situation to Anna Morgan-Lloyd and says that shows the govt has endorsed probation for similar conduct, Hogan says each case has be considered on its own

Jessica Bustle's lawyer Nabeel Kibria says that re: her posts on Facebook defending the riot, she's glad to be more offline now and he discusses the toxic effects of social media leading up to Jan. 6, refers to influence of "you know who" (aka Trump)

Joshua Bustle makes a brief statement, acknowledges he broke the law. Hogan asks him to confirm he lost his job and had to move as a result of the publicity around their case

Jessica Bustle also briefly address the judge, says she only wants to say that "I'm sorry for my actions, and that I love our country, and that’s all." Sounds like she grows tearful at the end

Hogan asks Jessica Bustle to address her Facebook post calling then-VP Pence a "traitor" and defending the insurrection, but then the lawyers note that it appears her computer has frozen and she's no longer connected

Jessica Bustle is back on — she says she doesn't support any violence and that when she wrote, "We stormed the capital" she didn't know about the violence happening in other areas of the Capitol

Jessica Bustle also points out that she and her husband had traveled to DC to participate in a demonstration against mandatory vaccines, and then made their way over to the Capitol

Big picture: Hogan says he is not going to sentence the Bustles to jail. But he begins by talking about the violence, and makes clear he listened to the police officers who testified before Congress last week about their experience, and notes the recent suicide of an MPD officer

Unfortunately Hogan is somewhat muffled on the public line, so it's hard to hear him at the moment as he explains why he's not sentencing the Bustles to jail

Briefly lost Hogan on the line, but he quickly comes back on. He's listing the spectrum of factors to consider in weighing each Jan. 6 participant (what they did, where they went, how long they were inside, how they responded to law enforcement presence, what they said online

Hogan sentences Joshua Bustle to 24 months of probation, 30 days of home confinement, and 40 hours of community service. Judge says he won't impose a fine (separate from $500 restitution as part of deal), noting the Bustles had to move, Joshua Bustle lost his job, baby on the way

Hogan agrees to delay the beginning of home confinement until the Bustles complete their move to South Carolina later this month

Hogan moves on to Jessica Bustle: "I seriously considered putting you in jail," he says, describing her Facebook posts defending what happened and calling participants "patriots" were "so inaccurate, so misguided"

Jessica Bustle is sentenced to 24 months of probation and 2 months of home confinement, with Hogan saying she gets the extra month as compared to her husband because of her statements about Jan. 6 (that's less than the 3 months requested by the government)

Hogan also sentences Jessica Bustle to 40 hours of community service, same as her husband

Hogan says he's not going to "lecture" Jessica Bustle about her stance on vaccines, but says he hopes she's reading "accurate" media, especially in light of the delta variant

That's a wrap on sentencing for the Bustles, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor re: going in the Capitol on Jan. 6. Recap:
- Joshua Bustle: 30 days home confinement
- Jessica Bustle: 60 days home confinement
- Both: 24 mos probation, 40 hours community service, $500 restitution