Prosecutors urge judge not to delay Jan. 6 defendant’s sentencing, alleging remaining incarcerated is his goal

Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to deny a request to delay sentencing for a rioter who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, alleging he wants to remain incarcerated.

Brandon Fellows was convicted Aug. 31, 2023, of felony obstruction of an official proceeding and felony entering and remaining in a restricted building. He was also found guilty of three misdemeanor offenses, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported.

Fellows is a handyman who lives in a converted school bus in New York. He represented himself at trial, the DOJ said.

He is seeking a stay, or a delay, in his sentencing until “at least mid-2024,” court documents said.

“The defendant essentially seeks a postponement of the sentencing hearing in his case. The Government has no doubt that he would like to delay his sentencing by any means necessary,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Fellows is trying “yet another attempt” to “delay and obstruct the administration of justice in his case.”  

Fellows has been incarcerated since July 15, 2021, just more than 30 months. The prosecution said his misdemeanor convictions carry a maximum sentence of 36 months, which makes it “possible that the Court could impose a sentence that the defendant has already served.”

In a Dec. 13, 2023, hearing, Fellows allegedly said he was in no rush to proceed with sentencing, which the prosecution said points to his goal being to remain incarcerated.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Fellows was photographed smoking marijuana inside Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-Ore.) office after breaching the Capitol. He was quoted in a 2021 Bloomberg article days after the insurrection saying he had no regrets.

In July 2021, Fellows’s bail was revoked by a judge after he allegedly left lewd and rambling voicemails for his probation officer and her mother.