An Iowa man was sentenced in the District of Columbia today on 12 offenses, including six felonies, committed during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Salvador Sandoval, Jr., 26, of Ankeny, Iowa, was sentenced to 88 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Sandoval was found guilty on Dec. 15, 2022, of four counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers for assaulting Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers; one count of obstruction of an official proceeding; and one count of civil disorder.
Sandoval also was found guilty of six misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building; and parading demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The verdict followed a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan.
According to the government’s evidence, Sandoval and his mother, Deborah, were present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Sandoval is seen on video stating, “We’re at the State Capitol, or the U.S. Capitol.” In a second video clip, Sandoval states, “Got pepper sprayed in the face and mouth…Got out cause I needed a break, and there’s still people inside.” The video then pans to the Capitol building, where dozens of individuals are draped in flags and chanting “USA, USA, USA!” in front of the Rotunda entrance.
In surveillance video from inside the Capitol building itself, Sandoval is seen assaulting multiple law enforcement officers, including by pushing law enforcement officers who are clearly identified via insignias on their jackets and helmets. Sandoval and other rioters also grabbed the police shield of two additional MPD officers, attempting to pull the shield away from the officers. Sandoval and the other rioters were successful in prying away a police shield from one officer.
Sandoval was arrested on Feb. 19, 2021, in Iowa.
His mother, Deborah Sandoval, 56, of Des Moines, pleaded guilty in December to a single misdemeanor charge of entering a restricted building and was sentenced to five months in prison.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by the Southern District of Iowa and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.
The FBI’s Omaha Field Office and Washington Field Office conducted the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Read more at the Justice Department
