Retired New Jersey state trooper Michael Daniele, who stormed the Capitol, is sentenced to probation

NEW JERSEY – A retired New Jersey State Police trooper who stormed the U.S. Capitol with a mob of Donald Trump supporters was sentenced to probation instead of prison on Friday, as federal courts reached a milestone in punishing Capitol rioters .

Videos show 61-year-old Michael Daniele shouting and giving the middle finger near police officers guarding the Capitol before entering the building on January 6, 2021.

Daniele expressed regret for his role in the attack before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to two years probation, including 30 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring, and ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine. The public prosecutor’s office had recommended an eleven-month prison sentence for Daniele.

“My family has been through hell,” Daniele said before hearing his sentence. “I would never do something like that again.”

The number of convictions in Capitol insurrection cases topped 1,000 on Friday, according to an Associated Press review of court records that began more than three years ago.

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to January 6th. At least 647 of them were convicted and given prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years. Over 200 were sentenced to some form of house arrest.

In June, Mehta convicted Daniele of the misdemeanor after a non-jury trial. However, the judge acquitted him of two offenses involving interfering with police during a disturbance.

Daniele served as a trooper with the New Jersey State Police for 26 years.

“It cannot be possible that you thought it was OK to be in the United States Capitol on January 6,” the judge said.

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Daniele was not accused of physically assaulting police officers or causing harm that day.

“You are not criminally responsible for this, but you do have a moral obligation to do so,” the judge said.

A prosecutor said Daniele “should have known better” given his training and experience as a law enforcement officer.

“By being there, he lent his strength to a violent mob,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Jackson.

Daniele traveled from Holmdel, New Jersey, to Washington to attend then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on January 6, as Congress convened a joint session to determine the election victory of President Joe Biden to be confirmed in 2020.

Before Trump finished his speech, Daniele marched to the Capitol and joined hundreds of other rioters at the Peace Circle, where the mob broke through barricades and forced police to retreat. Daniele entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors and walked through the crypt. He spent about six minutes in the building.

When the FBI interviewed him, Daniele described the Jan. 6 attack as “staged” and suggested that other rioters “looked like police officers,” according to prosecutors.

“He also blamed the police for the January 6 violence – despite having worked in law enforcement himself for decades – and accused police officers of facing an unprecedented attack by a crowd of thousands of people who failed to comply with proper measures for counterinsurgency,” prosecutors wrote.

Defense attorney Stuart Kaplan said jailing Daniele would be a waste of taxpayer money.

“He made bad decisions and made a bad decision,” the lawyer said. “I think he has more assets than debts.”