VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – A Tidewater Virginia man will be sentenced in December after pleading guilty to taking part in the riot earlier this year at the U.S. Capitol.
Jacob “Jake” Hiles, 42, pleaded guilty Thursday by video in federal court in Washington to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, according to court information. Maximum penalties for the count are six months in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to his plea agreement.
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“Mr. Hiles wanted to accept responsibility and put this behind him,” his attorney, Charles Haskell, told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk. Haskell declined to comment further.
Hiles, a longtime Virginia Beach charter boat captain, was charged less than two weeks after the Jan. 6 siege with four misdemeanor counts. He turned himself in and remained free on bond.
Hiles posted on social media on Jan. 6. According to court documents, he posted the “Feelin cute . might start a revolution later, IDK - in Capitol Hill” caption on Facebook with a photo of a man wearing a cap, sunglasses, gaiter and a sweatshirt that includes an expletive directed at Antifa, an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups.
Hiles has been the owner and operator of Matador Fishing Charters in Virginia Beach for more than 20 years, the newspaper reported.