The first Jan. 6 rioter to enter the Capitol, a Kentucky man, is sentenced to prison

LEXINGTON, Ky.— A Kentucky man who was identified as the first person to breach the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Michael Sparks, 47, from Elizabethtown, was sentenced to 53 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He will also be on supervised release for 36 months after he’s released, and he was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Sparks was found guilty of multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses by a federal jury in March. Kelly sentenced him on a felony offense of civil disorder and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Sparks was arrested roughly two weeks after the riot in Elizabethtown, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Court documents said multiple anonymous sources turned him into the FBI.

Since the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, over 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the riot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Twenty-three of those individuals were arrested in Kentucky.

Approximately 749 people have received sentences for crimes related to the riot as of Jan. 5, 2024, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. And 467 of those sentenced are serving a period of incarceration.