MD Marine Pleads Guilty To Jan. 6 Riot-Related Charges

WASHINGTON, DC — An active-duty U.S. Marine stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge stemming from his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Joshua Abate pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia told The Associated Press.

Abate's co-defendant, Dodge Dale Hellonen, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, also pleaded guilty to the same charge. Both are scheduled to be sentenced in September by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes.

A third active-duty Marine, Micah Coomer, was also charged with Abate and Hellonen. Coomer was stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia before he pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge in May. Coomer is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 30.

All three men face a maximum sentence of six months of imprisonment.

Many Capitol rioters are military veterans, but only a few were actively serving in the armed forces when they joined thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Hundreds have faced charges after entering the building to stop a joint session of Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results.

As of May 19, all three Marines were still in the service.

According to court documents, surveillance video confirmed the three men entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., prosecutors said the trio was spotted in the Capitol Rotunda, where they placed a red MAGA hat on a statue and took pictures with it. The men were then observed in Stationary Hall before they returned to the Rotunda, where they stayed for 30 minutes before police arrived, court documents stated.

During a June 2022 interview for his security clearance, Abate said he and two "buddies" had walked through the Capitol on Jan. 6 "and tried not to get hit with tear gas," according to an FBI special agent.

"Abate also admitted he heard how the event was being portrayed negatively and decided that he should not tell anybody about going into the U.S. Capitol Building," the agent wrote in an affidavit.

Authorities arrested the three men in January: Abate at Fort Meade, Maryland; Coomer in Oceanside, California; and Hellonen in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Approximately 600 have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors punishable by a maximum imprisonment of six months or one year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.