Prosecutors seek part-time jail terms for Dragoos in 2021 case
By Marcus Clem
A local couple convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is potentially facing time behind bars, at least for part of each day, for a few weeks.
Prosecutors said that for the offense of picketing, parading and demonstrating in the U.S. Capitol, to which they each pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2023, Kim Dragoo should serve at least 21 days of intermittent time in jail, and Steven Dragoo should serve at least 14 days. Their defense attorney said Wednesday the pair will each make no statement about this.
Regardless of any jail time passed down, the Dragoos must together pay $500 in restitution to the Architect of the U.S. Capitol, based on a plea agreement.
Prosecutors’ new request
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle McWaters has now referenced social media publications previously made by Kim Dragoo. McWaters said these comments justify a harsher penalty for her than her husband, Steven, since he has not commented on the case to the extent she has. Judge Beryl A. Howell is scheduled to decide the couple’s sentences on April 19 in Washington.
McWaters referenced Kim Dragoo’s various factually inaccurate denials of having been charged, including in response to a past News-Press NOW story about her charges. Those were reduced to one misdemeanor count as part of an August 2023 plea agreement with McWaters.
“Kimberly has not expressed remorse for her actions, nor — despite pleading guilty to a federal crime — has she accepted responsibility for her actions,” McWaters said. “Indeed, once Kimberly’s federal charges were unsealed and reported on by a local news organization, she reposted the news alert and commented that ‘[N]o charges have been filed!!!’”
Kim Dragoo subsequently ran for a seat on the St. Joseph Board of Education, placing behind winners LaTonya Williams, Mike Moore and Ronda Chesney, who will be sworn in at 5:30 p.m. April 15 at the Troester Media Center.
Throughout her campaign, Dragoo did not speak about the Jan. 6, 2021, events. Citing her complaints about News-Press NOW reporting, Dragoo declined to be interviewed as a candidate by the news organization about any subject.
“Since pleading guilty … Kimberly continues to claim she did nothing wrong, that January 6 was carried out by just a ‘handful of bad actors,’ and is a victim of slander and fake news reporting,” McWaters said in his filing. “In fact, in a recent public email to her local school board on Oct. 23, 2023, Kimberly commented on her criminal case, stating she is ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ and that ‘there are no facts here.’ … For reference, this email was written over two months after Kimberly pleaded guilty in this Court for violating a federal criminal statute.”
Defense attorney speaks
The Dragoos’ attorney, Bruce L. Castor Jr., offered comments on Wednesday. He has yet to file a response to McWaters in court, though he indicated he intends to do so. Previous third-party filings from local residents have urged Howell to be lenient. The couple’s sentencing date has been delayed a few times.
Castor represents the Dragoos before Howell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Castor rebutted the prosecutor’s statements in a Wednesday phone interview. Castor said he was surprised McWaters decided to offer a new sentencing recommendation on Monday. This may indicate that McWaters received new directions on handling Jan. 6 cases from the U.S. Department of Justice, Castor said.
“The decisions on what sentences to seek are not necessarily made by the prosecutor standing in the courtroom,” Castor said. “Fortunately, it is not the prosecutor that decides the sentence, it is the judge.”
Castor served as the lead counsel for Former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial of January and February 2021, triggered by the Jan. 6 events. Castor works for the law offices of van der Veen, Hartshorn, Levin and Lindheim in Philadelphia.
“The Dragoos did not behave correctly that day, but they certainly have learned their lesson and have had to pay me a lot of money to defend them and to go back and forth to court, going through a lot of stress and additional expense during that time,” Castor said.
Castor also rebutted the notion that Kim Dragoo’s online statements demonstrate any refusal to accept guilt.
“It is certainly convenient that prosecutors take an oath to uphold the Constitution,” Castor said, “but when people exercise their right to free speech, prosecutors are the first to use their speech against them in court.”
What does
intermittent mean?
If Howell agrees with McWaters’ recommendation in its entirety, the Dragoos would be subject to being held in jail “during nights, weekends or other intervals of time,” according to the McWaters filing. Howell could decide that the Dragoos do not deserve to serve any time at all. The judge also could go beyond the recommendation, up to the statutory maximum penalty of six months’ full-time incarceration.
Howell has served since 2010, following appointment by then-President Barack Obama. She assumed senior status on Feb. 1 of this year, meaning she is partly retired and is only required to hear about 25% of her previous caseload. At various points over the last three years, Howell has indicated she regards cases about Jan. 6, 2021, with a sense of gravity.
“Is it the government’s view that the members of the mob that engaged in the Capitol attack on January 6 were simply trespassers?” Howell stated in October 2021. “Is general deterrence going to be served by letting rioters who broke into the Capitol, overran the police … broke into the building through windows and doors … resolve their criminal liability through petty offense pleas?”
Castor offered an additional statement about the Dragoos later on Wednesday.
“These are good people who did something stupid and out of character,” he said. “In my experience, judges ordinarily will recognize that when it is the case.”
A call to the office of U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, an appointee of President Joe Biden who oversees McWaters, did not receive an immediate reply.
