Virginia couple pleads guilty in Capitol riot

Jessica and Joshua Bustle carried anti-vaccine signs into rotunda during Jan. 6 unrest.

A Virginia couple on Monday became the third and fourth defendants to plead guilty in the sprawling investigation stemming from the Capitol riot in January.

However, Jessica and Joshua Bustle of Bristow, Va., became the first to plead guilty in federal court who faced only misdemeanor charges as a result of their actions at the Capitol as lawmakers were attempting to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral college victory.

Under a deal with prosecutors, the Bustles each pleaded guilty to one of the four misdemeanor charges they faced: parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. They could get up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000, but will be spared the potential of back-to-back sentences on multiple counts.

The arrangement could serve as a template for hundreds of other misdemeanor-only cases filed related to the Jan. 6 events. Defense attorneys say it also suggests that prosecutors will not readily agree to more lenient resolutions in Capitol riot cases, such as deferring the case and dismissing it following a period of good behavior.

“There’s no guarantee what the sentence will be in this case,” Judge Thomas Hogan told the Bustles during the afternoon hearing, conducted by videoconference. “I can give a sentence that’s legal up to the maximum in the statute: six months.”

According to a complaint filed by an FBI agent in March, Jessica Bustle posted on her Facebook page on Jan. 6: “Pence is a traitor. We stormed the capital. An unarmed peaceful woman down the hall from us was shot in the neck by cops. It’s insane here….Pray for America!!!!”

In another post, Jessica Bustle — who said she’s opposed to taking the coronavirus vaccine — indicated she and her husband were attending a “health freedom” rally separate from then-President Donald Trump’s rally. They later decided to check out what was happening at the Capitol, she wrote. “My husband and I just WALKED right in with tons of other people.”

Bustle also wrote: “We need a Revolution.”

While in the Capitol, the Bustles carried signs expressing doubt about coronavirus vaccines and opposing mandatory medical procedures.

Jessica Bustle told Hogan that those statements were accurate, but she noted not everything in her online posts was confrontational.

“I wanted to say I’m admitting guilt to the things that I said and that I’m sorry for saying what I said. Also, there were other things that were said in the posts that were kind, like ‘Pray for America.’ Those aren’t the full things that I wrote,” she said.

The Bustles have also agreed to pay $500 apiece in restitution, Hogan said.

Both the Bustles' attorneys and a prosecutor said they were prepared to proceed with sentencing Monday, but the judge declined, saying he would set a sentencing date in 4 to 6 weeks.

“I’m not prepared to do sentencing today. I think we have to look at the case a little bit,” said Hogan, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan. The judge said he wanted to ensure “consistency and comparability” of sentences among the Capitol riot defendants, none of whom have been sentenced thus far.

Many Capitol riot defendants face the four typical misdemeanor charges the Bustles faced plus a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. The latter charge carries a potential 20-year prison term. It is not clear how prosecutors have distinguished between nonviolent defendants who face only the misdemeanors and those who had the felony charge added on.

The first guilty pleas in the Capitol riot came in April from Jon Schaffer, a heavy-metal guitarist and self-described lifetime member of the Oath Keepers. He admitted to two felonies: obstruction and entering a Secret Service-restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon.

Schaffer agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing conspiracy case against fellow Oath Keepers. A total of 16 people are now charged in that case.

The second guilty plea was from a Florida man who went onto the Senate floor during the Jan. 6 unrest, Paul Hodgkins. At a hearing earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to a felony obstruction charge. Prosecutors agreed to drop the misdemeanor charges against him, but there was no cooperation element to the deal. He is tentatively set for sentencing on July 19.