‘Bob’s Burgers’ voice actor sentenced to one year and one day for January 6 riot

Actor Jay Johnstonwho voiced a pizzeria owner on the TV show “Bob’s Burgers” and had roles in “Better Call Saul,” “Arrested Development” and the movie “Anchorman,” was sentenced Monday to one year and one day in prison. prison for interfering with the police. in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Johnston pleaded guilty in July to a federal riot charge for being part of a crowd that pressed on officers in the lower West Terrace tunnel at the height of the insurrection, including a widely reported incident in which a police officer dc police Daniel Hodge He screamed for help when he was crushed between rioters and a metal-framed door.

Prosecutors had requested an 18-month sentence, citing injuries Hodges suffered at the hands of rioters who shouted “heave-ho” as they tried to break through a line of officers defending the tunnel bottleneck.

Assistant US Attorney Kaitlin Klamann wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Johnston joked while witnessing and filming numerous acts of violence by rioters against police. The prosecutor included in the filing a photograph of Johnston smiling at a 2023 Halloween party dressed as Jacob Chansleythe rioter known as the “QAnon shaman,” who stormed the Capitol carrying a spear and a fur-lined horned headdress.

“He thinks his participation in one of the most serious crimes against our democracy is a joke,” Klamann wrote, referring to Johnston.

defense lawyer Stanley E. Woodward He asked for a sentence of four to 10 months or less, saying prosecutors have exaggerated Johnston’s actions because of his notoriety to make a point. The actor, Woodward added, has been “blacklisted” and “excommunicated” from his Hollywood roles and is working as a handyman to support his 13-year-old autistic daughter.

Johnston expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for making it difficult for police to do their job on Jan. 6, sending a text message four days later saying, “Although it was not directly my fault, I participated in the hysteria.” “He exploded and was attacked with tear gas,” Woodward argued.

As of Oct. 6, more than 1,532 people have been federally charged and nearly 1,200 have pleaded guilty or been found guilty at trial over the Capitol riot. More than half of the around 1,000 sentenced to date faced misdemeanor charges, although nearly 600 have been charged with assaulting police or rioting. At least five people died during or immediately after the violence, which caused $3 million in damage, injured 140 officers and forced the evacuation of Congress as it met to confirm the results of the 2020 election.

Johnston was the voice of the character Jimmy Pesto on Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers.” He also appeared regularly on “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” an HBO comedy series starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cruzand “The Sarah Silverman Show” on Comedy Central.

US District Judge Carl J. Nichols imposed the sentence.