Illinois man gets three weeks behind bars for role in Capitol attack

An Illinois man has been sentenced to jail time for what he did on the day the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

Jeremiah Carollo, of Glen Carbon, was there that day with his younger brother, Anthony Carollo, 22, of Lockport, and their cousin, Cody Vollan, 31, of Flossmoor.

The judge already had rejected jail time for those other two men, but then took a close look at a video showing Jeremiah Carollo, 45, near the front of the mob, breaking through a police line on the Capitol steps.

The elder Carollo didn’t carry a weapon and he didn’t break anything. But his presence helped inflame the passions of others, said U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta in Washington, D.C.

“They had that courage because there was a mob of people. They don’t have that courage and they are not that brave … if they are standing there alone,” Mehta said.

Mehta sentenced Carollo to 21 days in jail, saying the defendant could have chosen to step out of the mob and also influenced his younger brother and their cousin. Those other two men each were sentenced to 12 months of probation.

“There needs to be an understanding that people cannot behave this way when an election is lost and you disagree,” Mehta said.

All three were ordered to perform 60 hours of community service and pay a $500 fine.

“I have no excuse for the actions I took that day,” Jeremiah Carollo, a Marine Corps veteran, said just before he was sentenced. “I do regret getting my cousin and brother involved. … I’m embarrassed and ashamed for being a part of something that has caused more division among Americans and sent a very negative image to the rest of world, when America is not supposed to be like [it was] on January 6th.”

Vollan and the Carollo brothers all had pleaded guilty in April to misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Prosecutors had asked for jail time for all three defendants, although longer for Jeremiah Carollo, noting his “charge” up the Capitol steps.

Vollan and the Carollos are among 27 known Illinoisans charged in the Capitol attack, which has led to what has been described as likely the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.

Law enforcement found Vollan and the Carollos after investigators “became aware” of their mobile devices’ presence around the Capitol that day, based on information gathered through a search warrant served on Google, court records show. The FBI then checked to see whether the associated email addresses matched anyone lawfully within the Capitol. They did not.

As part of their plea, the men admitted they entered the Capitol through a broken window and spent more than 15 minutes walking around, visiting the Capitol crypt and rotunda and the “vicinity of Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi’s suite.”