Capitol Rioter From Colts Neck Sentenced

COLTS NECK, NJ — A former Colts Neck man was sentenced Thursday to 48 months in prison on felony and misdemeanor charges, stemming from his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington said.

Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli, 32, of Colts Neck, was sentenced in the District of Columbia Thursday, Sept. 22, before Judge Trevor N. McFadden.

His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election, the government said.

At sentencing today, the court found that Hale-Cusanelli obstructed justice during the trial when he made certain statements under oath, and applied an "enhancement" to the sentence. Jurors found his testimony about being unfamiliar with the Capitol, despite his interest in history, not to be credible, according to court documents.

"I disgraced my uniform and I disgraced the country," Hale-Cusanelli was quoted as telling the judge, according to a Twitter post by NBC News' Ryan J. Reilly.

Following his prison term, Hale-Cusanelli will be placed on three years of supervised release. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution, the news release said. He was represented by Nicholas D. Smith, New York. Smith said he does not comment on his clients, but he did request a 20-month sentence, or time served, according to an NJ.com report.

Hale-Cusanelli was arrested on Jan. 15, 2021. After transfer from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold, he was transferred to a federal prison where he has remained ever since.

He was found guilty by a jury on May 27 of a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, and four related misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

According to the government’s evidence, Hale-Cusanelli drove to Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. He joined a mob of rioters that illegally breached a police line attempting to secure the Capitol grounds.

The government summarized his actions:

• He commanded others in the mob to “advance” on the Capitol, a command he continued once inside.
• Hale-Cusanelli was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol Building, moving inside shortly after the breach that took place at 2:12 p.m. at the Senate Wing Door.
• He made harassing and derogatory statements toward Capitol Police officers, saying that a “revolution” was coming. He remained in the building for approximately 40 minutes.

Days after the incident, Hale-Cusanelli told a friend that being in the Capitol was “exhilarating,” he was hoping for a “civil war,” and that the “tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

At the time of the Capitol breach, Hale-Cusanelli was enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. He received an other-than-honorable "punitive" discharge after the arrest. Hale-Cusanelli worked as a contractor at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck where he had a “secret” security clearance, and has since been barred from the facility.

In a sentencing memorandum, the government had requested an even higher sentence of 78 months.

In the sentencing memorandum, the government stated that:

"It is well established in the record at this point that Hale-Cusanelli subscribes to White-
Supremacist and Nazi-Sympathizer ideologies that drive his enthusiasm for another civil war and
formed the basis of this court’s pretrial determination that Hale-Cusanelli was a danger to the
community."

The memorandum said that "Hale-Cusanelli is, at best, extremely tolerant of violence and death. Though he has stated that he does not want death, he does not want civil war, in his mind, it is all 'inevitable,' as 'the tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.'

"Hale-Cusanelli said that 'political solutions' will never be sufficient to root out entrenched interests - Democrats, the influence of major corporations and Jews," the government's memorandum continued. " Cusanelli said the 'the system there is so entrenched, no amount of activism will ever remove their influence.'"

The government memorandum to the judge said that:

"What Hale-Cusanelli was doing on Jan. 6 was not activism, it was the preamble to his civil war. A meaningful term of incarceration is necessary given the nature and circumstances of Hale-Cusanelli’s offense. If the greatest threat that the country faces is the violent destabilization of democratic order, it cannot be said strongly enough that the rule of law must prevail. A meaningful term of incarceration is needed to protect the country."

The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has been linked to the deaths of six people, including a Capitol police officer from South River, and caused nearly $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol building, according to the Justice Department.

More than 150 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol Hill riots, including a former Monmouth County corrections officer.

The Hale-Cusanelli case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the news release said.

The case was investigated by the Northeast Field Office of the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI’s Newark and Washington Field Offices, with assistance by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 870 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 265 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips on the matter can call 800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.