A jury in Washington has convicted a Fleming Island man of destroying government property as part of a crowd that broke open a door at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot there.
Marcus Smith, 47, faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years behind bars because the price of the damage exceeded $1,000.
The door in the Capitol Senate Wing dated from the 1850s and replacing it was estimated to cost about $21,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington said in a release on the verdict, which the jury reached about 4:35 p.m. Monday.
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Smith, who was arrested in January, had argued unsuccessfully to have his trial moved to Jacksonville , contending a jury in Washington would be biased against anyone charged in the Capitol riot.
A court docket indicates that the jury began hearing evidence last week in the case, which involved the felony charge and six misdemeanors . During deliberations, the jury asked U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich only one question, which involved the legal definition of “parade” or “picket.”