“Bob’s Burgers” and “Arrested Development” actor Jay Johnston was sentenced on Oct. 28 to one year in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol.
The prosecution—U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves—requested that the judge sentence the 56-year-old Los Angeles-based comedian to 18 months in prison based on his involvement in what Graves called a “violent attack that forced the interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count.”
In July, Johnston pleaded guilty to felony interfering with police officers during a civil disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
Graves said that despite Johnston’s participation, he continued to message family and friends claiming that the event at the Capitol was a set-up by law enforcement and Antifa and was “exaggerated by the media.”
“Finally, almost two years after the attack on the Capitol, Johnston made light of his participation in the riot by dressing up as Jacob Chansley, known as the ‘QAnon Shaman,’ at a Halloween party that he attended,” Graves said.
Graves alleged that “at least one officer was injured” from a “heave-ho” push in which Johnston participated.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Johnston to one year and one day of imprisonment. The judge acknowledged that Johnston will no longer be available to care for his 13-year-old autistic daughter while he is imprisoned.
“But his conduct on Jan. 6th was quite problematic. Reprehensible, really,” Nichols said.
After the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, Johnston was fired from the Emmy Award-winning “Bob’s Burgers” animated series that first aired in 2011. On the series, he played pizzeria owner Jimmy Pesto Sr. He played a police officer on “Arrested Development,” and appeared on Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’s “Mr. Show with Bob and David.”
In the sentencing memorandum, Johnston’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, said the government is using Johnston’s status as a Hollywood actor “to make a point to the public.”
“At the same time, the government has steadfastly refused to admit that the evidence in support of Mr. Johnston’s indictment does not support the oversized and disproportionate role it accuses Mr. Johnston of playing,” Woodward said.
Woodward requested Johnston be sentenced to between four and 10 months in prison.
Woodward said Johnston has cooperated with investigators and expressed “genuine remorse and an acceptance of responsibility.”
Since he’s been “blacklisted by the film and television industry,” Johnston has worked “as a handyman for the last two years—an obvious far cry from his actual expertise and livelihood in film and television.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
