Dominic Pezzola, Proud Boy who caused first breach of Capitol, sentenced to 10 years in prison

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps veteran and Proud Boy who used a stolen police riot shield to smash a window and cause the first breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

Dominic Pezzola, a 45-year-old flooring contractor from Rochester, New York, was convicted in May alongside four other members of the Proud Boys following a five-month jury trial. Although jurors acquitted him of joining his co-defendants’ seditious conspiracy, they convicted him on multiple other counts, including conspiring against members of Congress or law enforcement, destruction of government property and assaulting and robbing U.S. Capitol Police Officer Marc Ode of his riot shield.

Prosecutors described Pezzola as the "literal poster boy" for the Proud Boys conspiracy. Footage of him using a police riot shield to smash in a window on the Capitol's Senate Wing — causing the first breach of the building through which hundreds of other rioters poured through — became one of the earliest and most memorable images of the riot. 

After entering the building himself, Pezzola recorded a video smoking a cigar and bragging, "I knew we could take this motherf***er if we just tried hard enough."

In their sentencing memo, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to sentence Pezzola to 20 years in prison. On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson described him as an “enthusiastic foot soldier” in the Proud Boys’ plan.

“What transpired on Jan. 6 was the kind of political violence that Pezzola signed up for the Proud Boys to partake in,” Kenerson said.

Pezzola's attorney, Steve Metcalf, argued for a much lighter sentence that would allow him to be released from prison at an age where he could resume work as a flooring contractor. He also argued that Pezzola, who took the stand during his trial and blamed police for inciting the violence at the Capitol, should receive credit for accepting responsibility. Kelly denied that request.

A day earlier, Kelly sentenced two of Pezzola's co-defendants, Proud Boys Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl, to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively. He acknowledged Friday that unlike those men, Pezzola had been acquitted of the seditious conspiracy charge. But he also said Pezzola's assault on police and his unique role in causing the first breach of the Capitol made him individually a significant factor in the attack on the Capitol.

"You really were in some ways the tip of the spear that allowed people to get into the Capitol," Kelly said.

"You opened up the Capitol like a can opener," he added a minute later.

Despite the seriousness of Pezzola's conduct, Kelly said he was granting a significant downward variance because he believed a terrorism enhancement he applied at the government's request overstated the offense. He gave a similar explanation Thursday when he varied downward in Biggs' and Rehl's sentences, saying he believed the enhancement was designed for criminal acts that caused or sought to cause mass loss of life.

This is a developing story and will be updated.