Patrick McCaughey III, who used a stolen police shield to nearly crush a police officer to death on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in one of the most violent incidents amid the deadly insurrection upon the U.S. Capitol that day.
Federal prosecutors had recommended the Connecticut man get more than 15-1/2 years behind bars, which would have been the longest sentence related to January 6 so far.
However, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced 25-year-old McCaughey to seven years and six months followed by two years of supervised release. It’s the same amount of prison time that was handed down to Albuquerque Cosper Head, a Tennessee man who dragged Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone into a crowd of rioters.
McFadden called McCaughey a “poster child of all that was dangerous and appalling about” January 6.
One of the most graphic and disturbing images from the riot involves MPD Officer Daniel Hodges screaming while he’s nearly crushed to death between a door and the mob as it presses forward.
McCaughey is one of nine people charged in the brutal incident.
According to the Justice Department, McCaughey “threw his body weight” against Hodges and pressed a stolen shield against him.
Hodges testified at McCaughey’s trial as well as those of January 6 defendants Tristan Stevens and David Mehaffie.
“It, combined with everything else that was going on, made it difficult to breathe,” Hodges has said. “Being crushed by the shield and the people behind it…leaving me defenseless, injured.”
During McCaughey’s trial, Hodges said he thinks about the horrors of January 6 every day. “I do not foresee that changing anytime soon,” he told the judge.
At his sentencing, McCaughey said, “I’m sorry that I conducted myself less like a citizen and more like an animal that day.”
McCaughey was convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, the January 6 joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential election victory over then-President Trump.
“Your actions are some of the most egregious crimes that were committed on that dark day,” the judge told McCaughey.
So far, prosecutors have brought criminal charges against more than 1,000 people following the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Four people died during the insurrection, and five police officers died of various causes following the attack.
