Washington DC - A retired police chief was sentenced on Thursday in Washington to more than 11 years in prison over his participation in the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.

Alan Hostetter (59) was convicted of four felonies in July, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

The jail term of 11 years and three months was only slightly less than the 12.5 years requested by prosecutors.

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol building, home to the Congress, to try to disrupt the official certification of Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

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Hostetter, who was expected to begin his term in January, defended himself during the proceedings in a federal court in Washington. He never wavered from his belief that Biden had stolen the election from Trump.

So far, more than 1,230 people have been charged for crimes related to the riot, the Justice Department said. More than 720 of them have been convicted, and more than 450 of those will serve prison time.

Trump, who delivered a fiery speech to supporters not far from the White House before the riot, has not directly been implicated in the event.

In December 2022, a congressional commission investigating the events of January 6 recommended criminal charges against Trump, notably for aiding an insurrection and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The 77-year-old Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, is to go on trial in Washington in March on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the November 2020 election won by Biden.

He has been indicted for racketeering in Georgia on accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.