Jan. 6 Attack: The Latest On 3 From RI Who Were Charged

RHODE ISLAND — All three Rhode Island men who were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol have now either been sentenced or have a sentencing date.

In the months after Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 people were arrested in nearly all 50 states in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to federal officials. Among those charged, three of them are from Rhode Island.

Most recently, 53-year-old William Cotton, of Hopkinton, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which he will plead guilty to one count while prosecutors drop three other counts, WPRI reported Wednesday, citing court documents.

Court filings obtained by MassLive.com said Cotton was among a group of people that entered the locked Capitol building as the Senate and House of Representatives met in their respective chambers.

In the plea agreement, which was filed Tuesday in Washington, Cotton agreed to plead guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to the outlet.

Cotton's other charges, including entering a restricted building or ground, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds and parading, will be dropped, WPRI reported.

He will be sentenced on Sept. 29.

Read the full report in WPRI.

In May, Bernard Joseph Sirr, a 47-year-old North Kingstown man who admitted to committing a felony during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to two months in prison.

According to court documents, Sirr was among the rioters who illegally entered the Capitol grounds. He joined a line of rioters who were engaged in a confrontation with Capitol Police officers in the tunnel area of the Lower West Terrace, prosecutors said.

Sirr must also serve a year of probation with six months of home confinement and pay a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to interference with officers during a civil disorder.

Sirr's guilty plea came after a plea deal. He was also previously charged with several misdemeanors, but those were dropped after the plea deal.

In April, Timothy Desjardins, age 36, a Providence man who was also charged in the attack, was sentenced to 18 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions after pleading guilty to unrelated charges, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Desjardins pleaded guilty to assault and firearms charges in two cases involving a September 2021 shooting and an armed standoff with the Providence Department in November 2021, officials said.