Gregory Yetman, the , Helmetta , citizen who participated in the , Jan. 6 , rioting while a sergeant in the , New Jersey Army National Guard, was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison.
Yetman, 47, who picked up a chemical apply app and fired it at police officers that morning,  , pleaded guilty in April of this year to assaulting, resisting or impeding police , with real call at the , U. S. Capitol , that morning
Yetman will have to offer 18 months of supervised release after captivity, and pay$ 2, 000 in restitution for damage at the , Capitol, court documents show.
He’s been in prison in , Washington, D. C.  , since , December 2023, following his arrest a fortnight before in , New Jersey.
Yetman deserved 45 months in jail, according to a national attorney. His attorney argued for a month in prison, and no greater than 17 times.
In a presentence statement, the counsel,  , Craig Estes, argued Yetman’s actions on , Jan. 6 , and during his incarceration– when he fled into the woods behind his house – show his disregard for his own history and training.
” Despite his vow to the , Constitution, and his years of experience working in law enforcement, Yetman did not hesitate to pick up a bottle of OC mist and switch it on his own police officials. Estes wrote that Yetman knew that the soldiers he sprayed were surrounded and being attacked by numerous different protesters, but he continued to target them.
The , FBI , initially interviewed Yetman two months after , Jan. 6, 2021, after receiving a suggestion from the Army.
He acknowledged being present at the , Capitol , that evening, and claimed that he made an effort to assist people who had been sprayed with chemical pollutants despite witnessing individuals breaking windows and a police commander being dragged into the crowd.
He also said, “he helps law protection and that anyone entering the , Capitol , or assaulting officers may be prosecuted”, officials said. He would go on to offer more than a year in the , Army National Guard.
National researchers, if, after learned they he was one of the individuals spraying chemicals.
When the , FBI , arrived at his house on , Nov. 8, 2023, Yetman dropped a weapon and cell phone and , ran into the woods. He , surrendered to nearby police , two days later.
Yetman has no prior criminal history, Estes wrote, but” the sincerity of his conduct on , January 6, and in particular his determination — as a then-active military police officer — to use a dangerous weapons against other police officers that perhaps he recognized were only” there do their job ‘ defending the , U. S. Capitol  ,’cause he knew were’do their work ‘… defending the&nb
And despite his military police background, Yetman chose to avoid being arrested in November 2023 and remain in hiding for several days, which necessitated an extensive manhunt that required extensive resources from the police and caused disruption to the neighborhood with school shelter-in-place orders and street closures, all of which were reasonably foreseeable.
The same month of his arrest, Yetman’s family created an online fundraiser that said he fled because he feared “being falsely imprisoned”, and complained:” This has been a nightmare for all of us involved and so many other families that are dealing with this J6 nonsense”.
Yetman failed to disclose the account to federal authorities, and that also warrants a” significant period of incarceration”, Estes wrote. The account had over$ 42, 000 as of , July 15.
In his presentence report, Yetman’s lawyer,  , Nicholas D. Smith, played up his client’s 14 years of military service and described him as a gainfully employed, decent citizen who has a job waiting for him when he returns from prison.
Smith characterized Yetman’s crime as a” 12 second offense”, since that is how long he sprayed officers that day.
” Regrettably … Yetman got swept up in the madness of the crowd that descended on the , Capitol , that day. He used a canister of pepper spray to spray noxious aerosol over nearby law enforcement officers, which was outrageous, according to Smith, who was one of the many others.
Yetman’s offense, Smith conceded, “was reckless and deplorable”, he argued: “one cannot assume from the act alone that he intended to inflict bodily injury on officers who were not in fact injured.
Yetman regrets his obscene behavior, for which he immediately accepted accountability. He will express his feelings of regret to the law enforcement personnel who are impacted by his crime, Smith wrote.
The report includes 20 pages of letters from Yetman’s friends and family members and several Army buddies, who all say he is an honorable, helping person who gives to his community.
One was a retired , Westampton , police officer who served with Yetman in the military, another was a , Pennsylvania , couple who described how Yetman helped them and saved their camping equipment when a storm swept through a multi-day music festival in , Virginia.
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