Chicago man gets 10 days imprisonment, 9 months’ probation for role in U.S. Capitol riot

CHICAGO - A Chicago man who authorities say smoked a cigarette, took videos and photos and entered several rooms in the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was sentenced Tuesday to 10 days in prison and nine months of probation.

Athanasios Zoyganeles pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building in connection to the riot that interrupted a joint session of Congress certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

He was initially charged in February 2022, when a court document uncovered several comments he allegedly made on Facebook, including one post in December 2020 that said, "This is what needs to happen in Washington D.C.on the 6th.just rush Capital hill. They can’t stop a million people.We the people are in charge.Not our evil government."

On Jan. 6, 2021, Zoyganeles walked up the stairs under the inaugural scaffolding toward the Capitol’s Parliamentarian doors and stood on the stairs holding a piece of wood before he entered, a court document said.

He entered the Capitol at 2:46 p.m., smoked a cigarette, took videos and photos and entered multiple rooms. He left the Capitol about five minutes later, the document said.

On Jan. 15, 2021, Zoyganeles told another Facebook user his trip to Washington was "fun and exciting," according to the document.

Zoyganeles is among at least 40 known Illinois residents who have been charged as a result of the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

A judge also ordered Zoyganeles to pay $500 in restitution.