WASHINGTON — Four men from Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia were sentenced for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, where they participated in the first breach of the restricted grounds. Their actions disrupted a joint session of Congress as it convened to certify the 2020 presidential election results.
Stephen Chase Randolph, 34, of Harrodsburg, Ky.; James Tate Grant, 31, of Cary, N.C.; Jason Benjamin Blythe, 28, of Fort Worth, Texas; and Paul Russell Johnson, 38, of Lanexa, Va., were sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb.
Randolph received eight years in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. Grant was sentenced to 36 months in prison with 36 months of supervised release. Blythe was sentenced to 30 months in prison with similar supervised release terms. Johnson was sentenced to five years of probation, including intermittent weekend confinement for one year and two years of home detention, along with a $25,000 fine.
A fifth defendant, Ryan Samsel, 40, of Bristol, Pa., is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2025.
The group was convicted of civil disorder, and Samsel and Randolph were additionally found guilty of assaulting a police officer with a metal barricade, causing bodily injury. Grant, Johnson, and Blythe were convicted of assaulting another officer with the same barricade.
Evidence presented at trial showed the men initiated the first breach of the Capitol grounds at approximately 12:50 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. They led the crowd in pushing through bike-rack barricades and clashing with U.S. Capitol Police officers. The force of the attack left one officer unconscious with a concussion.
The case was part of an extensive federal investigation into the Capitol breach.
