MIAMI — A South Florida man and Very pleased Boys member was sentenced to jail on Thursday for his involvement in the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Gilbert Fonticoba, 49, of Hialeah, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by U.S. District Courtroom Decide Timothy Kelly. He was convicted of obstruction of an formal continuing and civil dysfunction — each felonies — pursuing a stipulated bench demo on Oct. 6, 2023, in accordance to a push launch from the U.S. Section of Justice.
According to courtroom documents, Fonticoba was a member of the “Vice Metropolis” chapter of the Happy Boys in Miami considering the fact that 2019 and participated in a coordinated energy to obstruct the certification of the Electoral University on Jan. 6, 2021.
On the morning of the insurrection, Fonticoba met with a group of around 100 Very pleased Boys members close to the Washington Monument all over 10 a.m. As instructed, he did not put on any colors representing the suitable-wing group but wore a shirt that go through “ENRIQUE TARRIO DID Almost nothing Erroneous!” underneath his jacket, the DOJ stated.
Soon following 10 a.m., the team remaining the rally and began to march east toward the Capitol, wherever he remained at or in close proximity to the entrance of the group with senior Proud Boys leaders.
Then close to 12:45 p.m., the team mustered into a column and marched towards the Capitol grounds close to the Peace Monument. Within minutes of arrival, the team and users of the group surged ahead towards a police barricade, where Fonticoba was among the initially wave of rioters to progress and overwhelm the police line, the DOJ stated.
All over 12:54 p.m. just after crossing trampled police barricades, Fonticoba walked up the Pennsylvania walkway on limited grounds of the Capitol with many co-defendants. In accordance to the DOJ, Joe Biggs — a Happy Boys leader — recorded himself and Fonticoba as they created their way to the Capitol. He, Biggs and some others gathered in “stack development” and ongoing to the entrance of the mob.
According to the DOJ, Fonticoba and the others had been stopped a midsection-higher black metal fence that had been bolted into the floor, and regulation enforcement officers had reformed the police line on the other side of the fence. Officers then commanded the group to prevent advancing toward the Capitol and disperse. On the other hand, Fonticoba, Biggs and other Happy Boys began to pull down the fencing and ongoing with the mob and headed towards the West Plaza.
Around 1:21 p.m., Fonticoba and his associates moved away from the law enforcement line and regrouped on the west garden as regulation enforcement struggled to repel the mob. Although on the garden, Fonticoba applied an encrypted chat group that was designed by D.C. Very pleased Boys users to recruit one more member — Gabriel Garcia — to join up with them. Fonticoba, Biggs and the other Very pleased Boys then moved again to the entrance of the group. In just minutes, Fonticoba was amid a surge of rioters to press up a flight of concrete stairs after a different Proud Boys associate — Daniel Lyons Scott — initiated the drive by assaulting two officers, the DOJ mentioned.
About 2:14 p.m., Fonticoba entered the Capitol setting up with other Proud Boys by the Senate Wing doorway and posted to Telegram “We just stormed the capital [sic]” shortly later.
Following the riot, Fonticoba rejoined with senior Proud Boys leaders, which includes Tarrio, in a Baltimore lodge. In accordance to the DOJ, even though in the lodge room, he continued to celebrate the day’s gatherings, including acquiring a mobile phone conversation, when he excitedly declared “We breached the f***in’ Capitol hill, brah. We breached the f***in’ Capitol developing, brah.”
Later on on Oct. 26, 2021, the FBI arrested Fonticoba in Miami.
Fonticoba’s sentencing came just days following authorities arrested 3 Jan. 6 fugitives in Florida: Jonathan Daniel Pollock, Olivia Michele Pollack and Joseph Daniel Hutchinson III. In September 2023, Tarrio’s mother spoke to reporters adhering to her son’s 22-12 months jail sentencing.
