DALLAS — A Fort Worth man who claimed to work for Murder the Media News was sentenced to four years in federal prison for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Nicholas DeCarlo, 32, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in September to a count of obstruction of an official proceeding. DeCarlo must serve three years of supervised release following his sentence and pay a $2,500 fine and $2,000 in restitution to the agency that manages the Capitol grounds, according to court records.
DeCarlo will surrender himself to FCI Seagoville, a low security prison in Dallas County, court records say. His attorney declined to comment on the sentencing.
DeCarlo had faced up to 20 years behind bars. Prosecutors dismissed five other charges against him: conspiracy, destruction of government property, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, entering and remaining in a restricted building, and theft of government property.
He is one of nearly two dozen men and women from North Texas who were charged in connection with the insurrection. On Thursday, a Richardson man accused of storming the Capitol building and threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on social media pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
According to plea papers, DeCarlo crossed onto Capitol grounds with Nick Ochs, the founder of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys. As they approached the Capitol building, it was clear to DeCarlo that access was restricted to that area, court documents say.
Ochs told DeCarlo, “We’re not supposed to be here, this is beyond the fence,” and DeCarlo said, “We’re all felons, yeah!” according to the documents.
When DeCarlo encountered a police line attempting to keep rioters away, he threw a smoke bomb at police and told Ochs he “neglected to ‘pull the pin,’ ” according to plea papers.
After entering the Capitol building, he and Ochs stopped to take pictures of themselves smoking cigarettes in the crypt, which Ochs posted to social media. They traveled through the visitors center, east foyer, rotunda and statuary hall, the documents say.
DeCarlo wrote “Murder the Media” — the name of his and Ochs’ social media channel — on a door to the Capitol in permanent marker and posed for pictures with Ochs. He also took a pair of flexcuffs from a Capitol Police duffel bag, plea papers show.
After leaving the Capitol, Ochs filmed himself and DeCarlo on the streets of Washington and said, “As we’ve been saying all day, we came here to stop the steal.” DeCarlo added: “We did it. … We did our job.”
Ochs pleaded guilty to the same charge as DeCarlo and also received four years in prison and three years supervised release Friday.
———
