Billy Kobin|Louisville Courier Journal
A husband and wife from Morganfield, Kentucky, who said they entered the U.S. Capitol during the deadly Jan. 6 riot with a "peaceful bunch of people" learned their punishmentFriday in federal court.
Senior Judge Reggie B. Waltonwith the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbiasentenced Lori Ann and Thomas "Tom" Vinson each to five years of probation, a $5,000 fine, $500 in restitution and 120 hours of community service.
It is reportedly the biggest fine and longest probationary sentence given out yetto the over 600 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol riot.
Walton, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, said he would consider reducing that five-year term if they obey the conditions of probation.
Walton said he decided againsta jail sentence for Lori Vinson — prosecutors had sought a 30-day jail term — because of the "additional costs imposed on taxpayers when somebody is detained" and due to the couple caring for several low-income and handicapped residents in their Western Kentucky community.
While he spared the couple jail time, Walton still had harsh words for their actions.
The Capitol riot, an attempt to disrupt Congress as it certified President Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump in the 2020 election,resulted in the deaths of five people, with hundreds of police officers injured and at least four officers who defended the buildinglater dying by suicide.
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"What concerns me is that both of you were gullible enough that, based upon statements being made for which there was no proof to support the allegation (the election was stolen), you all bought in on it— hook, line and sinker," Walton told the couple.
"Took your money to come all the way up here to D.C. and then let yourselves get involved in a mob situation that should be an embarrassment to anybody in this country."
Lori and Tom Vinson were eachinitially charged in February withentering restricted grounds, entering grounds with the intent to impede government business, demonstrating on Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
But the couple, who appeared via video Friday and wereallowed to remainhome while awaiting their sentencing hearing,ended up pleading guilty to one count of parading, picketing or demonstrating inside a Capitol building,a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison.
Besides a 30-day jail sentence, Department of Justice prosecutorshad requested thatLori Vinson, a 50-year-old nurse who was fired from herhospital after the riot, pay $500 in restitution.
For TomVinson, 54, described in court documents as a field supervisor for an oil company, prosecutorssought three months of home detention, three years of probation, $500 in restitution and 60 hours of community service.
Lori Vinson's public defender, Chastity Beyl, had asked the court to sentence herto five years of probation along with 100 hours of community service and $500 in restitution.
TomVinson's private attorneys, Christopher Wiest and Christopher Macchiaroli,requested atwo- to three-year sentence of probation that is "fair" and allows the Air Force veteran"to remain on a path of redemption."
The attorneys for the husband and wife said both of them cooperated with the FBIand have since expressed remorse for their actions.
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Explaining the different sentencing recommendations in court documents, prosecutors said the couple's conduct on Jan. 6 was "similar, but multiple search warrants and interviews in this case did not reveal the kind of propaganda and minimization of the violence by ThomasVinson that Lori Vinson engaged in."
According to a criminal complaint,several individuals sent Lori Vinson's Facebook posts showing her at the riot to the FBI's tipline in the days after Jan. 6.
One witness said Lori Vinsonclaimed to be one of the first 100 people in the Capitol that day, and provided multiple screengrabs of threads where she discussedwhat it was like inside the building,the complaint said.
The FBIalso received photos and videos of the Vinsonsinside the building, as well as solo "selfies" showing Lori Vinsoninside, according to the complaint.She claimed police let her into the building, but awitness noted the videos show signs of forced entry, like broken glass.
Prosecutors also presentedvideos and screenshots showing Lori Vinson near the front of acrowd that "rushed forward" and "overwhelmed" officers.
"I felt like what I had done was justified, and so I just said I would do this all over again tomorrow," she told a Nashville TV station, according to the complaint.
TomVinson told law enforcement they went inside with a"peaceful bunch of people there to express their views to Congress," describing their conduct as mostly chanting and talking —not damaging or stealing anything.
Lori Vinson told the FBI she didn't know Congress was "in session" because she said they would not have been allowed entry if lawmakers had been meeting.
Lori Vinson alsosaid she was there to protest what she believed in and doesn't have any regrets. She said she'll always remember Jan. 6 and is proud she was there.
Lori Vinson's public defender, however, wrote in a sentencing memoshe has since"changed her beliefs and attitude toward the events at the Capitol."
She was fired from her job in January as a nurse at Ascension St. Vincent in Evansville, Indiana, after the hospitalwas made aware of social media posts showing her inside the Capitol during the protests. Herattorney said she now works as a traveling nurse with FlexCare.
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"I made statements to the media that I regret," Lori Vinson wrote in a letter submitted to the court ahead of her sentencing hearing. "When I made them I was angry for losing my job. ...I do not agree with or support the violence that day. Now, I do not even want to participate in any protests."
She also said she and her husband own a rental property forlower-income tenants who rely on the couple forrides to grocery stores or to pick up medications, and she mentioned a "mentally challenged adult" whom she cares for.
Tom Vinson, meanwhile, said "I love this country" and that he took an oath in the Air Force to serve it, but "I know I broke the oath that day" by entering the Capitol.
The couple have six children and nine grandchildren.According to court documents, theyhave been married for over 20 years and live in Morganfield, the small city in Western Kentucky's Union County known as the site whereAbraham Lincoln gave his only political speech in the Bluegrass State.
Over 600 defendants from around the country, including over a dozen Kentuckians, have been charged in connection with the riot, with most cases still pending or awaiting a sentencing date.
Robert Bauer, the first Kentuckian sentenced earlier this month for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection, must serve45 days in jail, pay a $500 fine and complete 60 hours of community service.
Bauer, of Cave City, had pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge that the Vinsons faced.
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com.
