A 54-year-old Naperville woman who walked through the Capitol Building after it had been breached on Jan. 6, 2021, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Dawn Frankowski’s plea Wednesday to a charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building comes a day after the man with whom she traveled to the nation’s capital, David Wiersma, pleaded guilty to the same charge — also in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Like Wiersma, Frankowski is now facing a maximum of six months in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 30. Wiersma’s sentencing is set for Nov. 29. As part of a plea agreement, Frankowski has agreed to pay $500 in restitution — her part of the estimated $1.5 million in damage that occurred during the breach.
Frankowski told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson that she was born in Harvey and that she has a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Federal prosecutors say Frankowski attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and then was part of the crowd that entered the Capitol Building. She spent just a few minutes inside the building, entering two offices while inside, prosecutors say.
At least 32 other Illinois residents have been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol organized by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Capitol police were attacked and injured as the crowd breached the building, forcing a halt to a joint session of Congress that was in the midst of affirming Joe Biden’s Electoral College win in the 2020 presidential election. Then-Vice President Mike Pence, presiding at the joint session, was forced to evacuate to a secure location within the Capitol.
In the 19 months since then, more than 860 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states in connection with the attack.
