Florida - Thursday January 11, 2024: A Federal Judge in Washington D.C. sentenced Gilbert Fonticoba, of Hialeah Florida, to a term in prison after he was found guilty of two felonies related to his conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The 49-year-old Fonticoba was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly. Fonticoba was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, both felonies, following a stipulated bench trial before Judge Kelly on Oct. 6, 2023.
"His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election," states a release from the Justice Department.
According to court documents, Fonticoba – a member of the “Vice City” chapter of the Proud Boys in Miami since 2019 – participated in a coordinated effort to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6, 2021.
On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Fonticoba met a group of approximately 100 members of the Proud Boys near the Washington Monument at 10 a.m. As instructed, Fonticoba did not wear any Proud Boys colors, but underneath his black jacket, Fonticoba wore a distinctive t-shirt that read “ENRIQUE TARRIO DID NOTHING WRONG!”
Shortly after 10 a.m., the group of Proud Boys left the rally and began to march east to the Capitol. Fonticoba remained at or near the front of the marching group with senior Proud Boys leaders as the group marched around the perimeter of the Capitol. At approximately 12:45 p.m., the group mustered into a column and marched toward the entrance to Capitol grounds near the Peace Monument. Within minutes of arriving, the group and members of the crowd surged forward towards a police barricade. Fonticoba was among the first wave of rioters to advance onto the Capitol grounds as the crowd overwhelmed a police line.
At approximately 12:54 p.m., after crossing trampled police barricades, Fonticoba walked up the Pennsylvania walkway on the restricted grounds of the Capitol with several co-defendants. Joe Biggs, a leader of the Proud Boys, recorded himself and Fonticoba as they advanced toward the Capitol. Fonticoba joined Biggs and others in a stack formation to advance to the front of the mob.
Fonticoba and the others were stopped at a waist-high black metal fence that had been bolted into the ground. Law enforcement officers had reformed a police line on the other side of the fence. Law enforcement officers commanded the members of the crowd to stop advancing on the Capitol and disperse. Fonticoba joined Biggs and other Proud Boys in pulling the fence down. Then, defying officers’ commands to disperse, he continued to advance with the mob to the West Plaza.
As law enforcement struggled to repel the mob, at about 1:21 p.m. Fonticoba and his associates moved away from the police line and regrouped on the west lawn. While on the lawn, Fonticoba used an encrypted chat group that had been created for Proud Boys in Washington, D.C., to recruit another Proud Boys member, Gabriel Garcia to join the group at the Capitol. Fonticoba, Biggs, and other members of the Proud Boys then moved back to the front of the crowd. Within minutes of arriving near the front of the crowd, Fonticoba was among a surge of rioters to push up a flight of concrete stairs after another Proud Boys associate, Daniel Lyons Scott, initiated the push by assaulting two officers. Fonticoba entered the Capitol building with other Proud Boys at about 2:14 p.m.—less than 90 seconds after the initial breach of the Capitol—through the Senate Wing door. Five minutes later, Fonticoba posted on Telegram: “We just stormed the capital [sic].”
Following the riot, Fonticoba regrouped with senior Proud Boys leaders, including Enrique Tarrio, in a Baltimore hotel room. While in the hotel room, Fonticoba continued to celebrate the day’s events, including during a phone conversation when he excitedly declared, “We breached the f***in’ Capitol hill, brah. We breached the f***in’ Capitol building, brah.”
The FBI arrested Fonticoba on Oct. 26, 2021, in Miami.
This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami and Washington Field Offices. The U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department provided valuable assistance.
In the 36 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,265 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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