HELENA — Federal prosecutors are seeking a more than 11-year prison sentence from a Dillon man convicted of assaulting police on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
In May,a bench trial was held for Isaac Steve Sturgeon, 34, of Dillon and co-defendant Craig Bingert, 32, of Pennsylvania before United States District Judge for the District of Columbia Royce C. Lamberth. Both men were found guilty of more than a half dozen counts including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and an act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the capitol buildings.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Federal prosecutors are recommending an 11-year and 3-month jail sentence and a $2,000 fine for Sturgeon. Judge Lamberth is expected to make his sentencing ruling on Sept. 26.
According to court documents, Sturgeon was seen on an officer's body-worn camera outside the Capitol and was part of a group that picked up a metal barricade and shoved it into a group of D.C. Metropolitan Police officers.
If the judge follows the government’s recommendations, Sturgeon’s sentencing would be one of the longest for a Jan. 6 case. It would also be the second longest for a Montana-connected Jan. 6 riot case.
So far, eight individuals with direct ties to Montana have been charged with or convicted of alleged crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Six have been convicted or pleaded guilty and two are still awaiting trial.
Founder of the Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, a former Montana attorney who has been disbarred, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May for seditious conspiracy. Joshua and Jerod Hughes of East Helena, some of the first to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, were each sentenced to more than 3 years in prison.
Two Montana defendants still await trial for alleged action taken in the nation’s capitol on Jan. 6. Hank Muntzer’s trialhas been postponed again until February 2024 following a change of legal representation for the Dillon native. Great Falls native Patrick O’Brien is also awaiting trial after being arrested in January.
