WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man was sentenced Friday to 38 months in prison for assaulting law enforcement officers and other crimes committed during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, an event that disrupted Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
Brett Alan Rotella, 35, also known as Brett Ostrander, of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was convicted by a federal jury on three felony counts, including obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, along with multiple misdemeanors. In addition to his prison term, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss sentenced Rotella to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Court records and trial evidence detailed Rotella’s actions on the Capitol grounds and inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, where some of the most violent clashes between rioters and law enforcement occurred. Wearing distinctive clothing, Rotella carried a pole with flags and was seen on video forcibly pushing a police barricade and advancing toward officers while shouting inflammatory remarks.
Prosecutors presented evidence showing Rotella played a leadership role, directing rioters up the Capitol’s southwest stairs and leading a coordinated push against police lines in the Tunnel. Body-worn camera footage captured him leveraging his body against police shields, attempting to breach the line and enter the building. He also handed a ladder to rioters in an apparent effort to use it against officers and joined repeated surges against police barricades over a 90-minute period after exiting the Tunnel.
Rotella was arrested by the FBI on August 29 in Mooresville, North Carolina. His sentencing comes as federal prosecutors continue to pursue accountability for individuals involved in the attack, with over 1,200 arrests made nationwide to date.
