WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Athol man found guilty of felony and misdemeanor charges related to his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol will spend the next 5½ years behind bars.

Vincent J. Gillespie, 61, was sentenced Friday morning to 68 months in prison after a jury in December found him guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Gillespie to pay a fine of $25,000, restitution of $2,000, and to serve 36 months of supervised release.

According to the U.S. District Court, the evidence at trial showed that from approximately 4:11 p.m. to 4:26 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Gillespie was among rioters engaging in pushing, shoving, yelling and fighting with law enforcement officers in the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol.

“He struggled his way through the crowd, eventually maneuvering through the rioters to the line of police officers defending the Lower West Terrace’s exterior door,” according to a statement the U.S. Department of Justice released after the sentencing. “At one point, he gained control of a police shield and used it to ram the police. He then used two hands to grab a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant by the arm, yanking him toward the mob. He then screamed ‘traitor’ and ‘treason’ at the police.”

Gillespie, a former resident of Greenfield and Easthampton, was arrested in Athol on Feb. 18, 2022. He pleaded not guilty and posted a $10,000 unsecured bond in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. An unsecured bond means a defendant promises to pay a certain amount if he or she does not follow the conditions of release or appear in court. Gillespie declined to comment about his impending sentencing when emailed by the Greenfield Recorder on Wednesday. He previously mentioned his lawyers are Timothy G. Watkins, Forest O’Neill-Greenberg, Aziza Hawthorne.  

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. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump convened at the Ellipse within the National Mall, just south of the White House, on Jan. 6 for Trump’s “Save America” rally, where he and others continued their false claims of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in the 2020 presidential election. Trump told supporters to march to the Capitol building, saying they would “never take back our country with weakness.” Trump also said at the rally that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, also called for “trial by combat.”

Supporters then marched to the U.S. Capitol and wreaked havoc, forcing their way inside in an attempt to disrupt the Electoral College certification of the 2020 presidential election. At least 138 police officers were injured and four took their own lives within the following seven months. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was pepper-sprayed during the insurrection and suffered two strokes the following day, resulting in his death. One woman was shot dead by a Capitol Police officer. As of July 9, 2022, monetary damages caused by attackers were estimated to have exceeded $2.7 million.

The case was investigated by various FBI. Assistance was provided by the Athol Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.

In the 27 months since the deadly riot, at least 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. The investigation remains ongoing, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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