WASHINGTON -- Two friends from Mathews County, Virginia, have pleaded guilty to charges that they joined the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Cindy Fitchett from Cobbs Creek and Douglas Sweet from Hudgins face a maximum sentence of six months in prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor counts of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Sweet, who spoke on Jan. 7 after he said he spent eight hours in jail, told WTKR he wanted to "talk to the Senate and the House and actually speak.”
Although no widespread election fraud has been found, Sweet believed the false claims made by President Donald Trump that the election was stolen.
"Trump asked all the patriots to show up, so I did,” Sweet said when asked why he traveled to Washington.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is scheduled to sentence the pair on Nov. 9.
More than 560 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Capitol riot.
At least 35 of those defendants have pleaded guilty to riot-related charges as of Tuesday.
