SALT LAKE CITY — A judge Tuesday sentenced a Utah woman who entered the Capitol with her son on Jan. 6, 2021, to three years of probation.
Susan Manwaring must serve the first 30 days of that sentence in home detention.
Prosecutors had asked Manwaring, 59, of Vernal, to serve 14 days in jail.
Washington-based federal Judge Carl Nichols said incarceration was not warranted but “probation without something more is not quite enough.”
Read: Where Utah's defendants stand 2 years after Capitol riot
He also sentenced Manwaring to pay $500 in restitution and a fine of $500.
Before hearing the sentence, Manwaring, choking up, told Nichols she was sorry and embarrassed.
“I would never want another human being to be fearful for their lives because of my presence,” she said, “and so I’ve cried a lot over that.”
Manwaring in October pleaded guilty to a count of unlawful parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol. It’s a misdemeanor.
Manwaring and her son, Landon Manwaring, traveled together to Washington for the Stop the Steal rally. After President Trump’s speech, the pair walked to the Capitol.
In a memo filed before Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors contended Manwaring and her son entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door while other rioters were entering through an adjacent window.
Prosecutors wrote the mother and son “walked to the vicinity of Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s office suite,” and remained inside the Capitol for about 30 minutes.
Manwaring “repeatedly minimized her conduct during two interviews with the FBI,” prosecutors wrote, “falsely claiming that police did nothing to discourage or prevent rioters from entering the Capitol building and that she saw no property destruction.”
Manwaring “has yet to express remorse for her criminal conduct on January 6,” government attorneys added.
Neither Manwaring was accused of violence or vandalism at the Capitol that day. Susan Manwaring’s attorney argued for no jail time, saying his client’s actions were minimal, she didn’t observe the more riotous activities that day and she cooperated with investigators.
The defense’s sentencing memo also claimed she has already suffered consequences. Manwaring had to stop volunteering at a local jail and didn’t fly to Washington for her sentencing in part due to “harassment she and her husband suffer from TSA for being on the watch list.” Manwaring attended her sentencing via video.
Nichols said Manwaring may leave her home detention to go to work, medical appointments and volunteer activities.
Landon Manwaring, 32, pleaded guilty to the same charge. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. That’s because he had a criminal record.
Months after he entered the Capitol, he was arrested in Utah by a police officer posing as a minor. A state court judge sentenced Landon Manwaring to serve 30 days for pleading guilty to a felony count of dealing in materials harmful to a minor.
Twelve Utahns have been charged with crimes connected to the insurrection. Eight have pleaded guilty. The other four are awaiting trial.
