Ex-Natick Official Sentenced For Role In Jan. 6 Riot At U.S. Capitol

NATICK, MA — A former Natick Town Meeting member charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot was sentenced Friday to a short prison term, plus probation and fines, according to federal officials.

Suzanne Ianni entered into a plea agreement in September with federal prosecutors on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. She had previously pleaded not guilty to those charges.

A federal judge Friday sentenced Ianni to 15 days of incarceration, 30 months of probation, 60 hours of community service and to provide $500 in restitution to the government, according to a spokesman for the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

The sentence was only slightly different from what federal prosecutors had asked for.

[T]he government requests that this Court sentence Defendant Suzanne Ianni to thirty days’ incarceration, thirty-six months’ probation, sixty hours of community service and $500 in restitution," a Nov. 28 sentencing memorandum said.

Ianni and members of the group Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) rented several buses to transport Massachusetts residents to the Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington organized by former president Donald Trump. She and SHFA vice president Mark Sahady were photographed later that day inside the U.S. Capitol, along with hundreds of others.

Sahady and six other Massachusetts residents have been charged in connection to the riot: Vincent Gillespie of Athol; Brian McCreary of North Adams; Kevin Allen Chase of Seekonk; Noah Bacon of Somerville; David Lester Ross of Pittsfield; and Troy Sargent of Pittsfield.

Gillespie, Sahady and Bacon are set to go on trial in 2023. McCreary was sentenced in April to three years probation and 42 days of intermittent incarceration. Sargent is set to be sentenced this month on charges that he assaulted a police officer.

Ianni was arrested and charged in January 2021, but continued to serve as a Town Meeting member. She changed her address to a home in Saugus early in 2022, making her ineligible to run for reelection in the spring town election.

Here's what federal prosecutors said about Ianni's involvement in the riot: