California Man Sentenced to over 4 Years in Jan. 6 Pepper Spray Attack

Jeffrey Scott Brown, 56, was sentenced to 54 months in prison, or 4½ years, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement, NBC News reported.

Brown, of Santa Ana, was handed pepper spray that another man had taken from a police bag, and then he sprayed police officers with the irritant as the officers were trying to hold a line, officials said.

The assault happened as supporters of then-president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was formally counting the electoral votes affirming Trump’s election loss.

Brown and two other men, Peter Schwartz and Markus Maly, were found guilty of a variety of charges by a jury in December.

Schwartz stole the pepper spray from a police bag amid the chaos, and gave it to Brown who sprayed the police line, prosecutors said. Maly also sprayed officers with a chemical irritant, they said.

Attorneys for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

Brown’s attorneys argued in a sentencing memorandum ahead of sentencing that he has no criminal history and is not a political zealot.

They wrote that some allegations are still in dispute, but that Brown admits he should have never been in the Lower West Tunnel that day, and he regrets it.

“The charged conduct revolves around less than 10 minutes of Mr. Brown’s life, and the Government’s claim that Mr. Brown sprayed pepper spray toward law enforcement,” the attorneys wrote.

Defense attorneys asked for 40 months, or three years and four months for Brown, a former salesman.

Prosecutors asked for at least five years and three months, and said Brown has never expressed any remorse for his actions. Brown lunged forward along with the crowd when Washington, DC police Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed against a door, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.

Brown also has referred to himself as a "political prisoner" in legal defense fundraising efforts, the government said.

"Brown’s actions on January 6 show an absolute disregard for the rule of law coupled with a willingness to engage in violence," prosecutors wrote.

Brown was found guilty of seven counts, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcements officers using a dangerous weapon; and interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, both felonies.

The other two people convicted along with Brown, Schwartz and Maly, have long criminal histories, according to prosecutors, and face potentially far longer sentences.

Prosecutors are asking for 15 years and eight months in prison for Maly, according to a sentencing memo filed by the government.

They are seeking 24½ years in prison for Schwartz, according to a sentencing memo in that case. If imposed, that would be the longest sentence yet stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Schwartz is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5, and Maly was supposed to be sentenced Friday but it was delayed, according to court records.