Two Monroe County brothers accused of assaulting U.S. Capitol police during the Jan. 6 riots are expected to plead guilty Thursday.
Andrew Valentin, 26, and Matthew Valentin, 31, pleaded not guilty April 30 to a multitude of federal charges, but will plead guilty to just two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, according to federal court documents.
Each count against Matthew Valentin carries a prison sentence of up to eight years plus fines for a total of 16 years. Andrew Valentin is charged with one count that carries up to eight years with the other one up to 20 years.
Previously, Matthew Valentin faced up to 69 years in prison, Andrew Valentin, 81 years. Both are charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
As of Sept. 6, federal prosecutors had charged 1,504 people with crimes related to the Capitol attack. The FBI and other agencies took more than three years to charge the Valentins, but prosecutors have not revealed why it took so long.
Andrew Valentin was arrested Feb. 11 in South Whitehall Township in Lehigh County. Matthew Valentin was arrested Feb. 12 in Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County.
A grand jury handed up indictments of both April 17.
Mistakenly believing the 2020 election was stolen from him, tens of thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters poured into Washington to protest on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump hosted a rally about noon near the White House. He urged protesters to march to the Capitol before Congress certified Scranton native Joe Biden’s election as president.
A statement of facts does not say whether the Valentin brothers attended Trump’s rally. Instead, the statement says they gathered with many others near the Washington Monument and walked along Constitution Avenue to the Capitol.
Videos show both brothers pushed a bike rack into officers protecting the Capitol. Andrew Valentin recorded the scene as a mob advanced and threw a chair that struck an officer. Matthew Valentin held a baton in one hand and sprayed a chemical irritant. In another instance, Matthew Valentin grabbed an officer’s baton about 3:30 p.m., according to video.
The Valentins remain free on their own recognizance.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the maximum sentence that Andrew Valentin faces.
