Gino DiGiovanni Jr. speaks with reporters after winning the Derby Republican primary for mayor in the fall of 2023.
DERBY – Federal prosecutors want a judge to sentence Gino DiGiovanni, Jr. to 30 days in jail for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
DiGiovanni’s lawyer is arguing for no jail time, noting that his client has been sufficiently shamed.
DiGiovanni is scheduled to be sentenced in front of U.S. James E. Boasberg on Wednesday (April 24). He pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
In a previous interview with The Valley Indy, DiGiovanni said he approached the U.S. Capitol with a large group of people after watching President Donald Trump speak at a ‘stop the steal’ rally. He said he got caught up in the crowd and was unable to turn back, and was allowed into the Capitol building by law enforcement.
DiGiovanni, bottom center, at the U.S. Capitol riot.
However, a sentencing memorandum filed by the government on April 19 states that DiGiovanni knew he was in a restricted area when he approached and then entered the U.S. Capitol building while Congress was in session.
“DiGiovanni entered the Capitol Building despite obvious signs that he should not: the OC (pepper) spray in the air while he was on the West Plaza and Lower West Terrace; the inaugural stage, still in the middle of construction (as DiGiovanni would have recognized as a construction professional himself); the verbal attacks he heard hurled at police; the broken windows and glass on the Upper West Terrace near the Senate Wing Door; and the alarms blaring as he entered through the Upper West Terrace Door,” the memo reads.
The government further states that DiGiovanni has shown no remorse, a reason why he should spend time behind bars.
DiGiovanni is a member of the Derby Planning & Zoning Commission, the chairman of the Derby Republican Town Committee, a former Second Ward Alderman, and a 2023 candidate for Derby mayor.
His lawyer, Martin Minnella, did not return a call for comment but submitted a memo arguing for no jail.
The defense’s memo argues that DiGiovanni’s commitment to his family and City of Derby, as well as his lack of criminal history, are reason enough to dispose of any prison sentence.
It points to his mayoral race last year, as well as his years on the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen and the Planning & Zoning Commission.
“When looking through a lens of Mr. DiGiovanni’s good deeds throughout his entire life, it is evident that they outweigh this one bad one,” the defense memo says.
At the time of the Capitol breach, DiGiovanni was not an elected official.
It points to personal difficulties DiGiovanni has faced recently, including the passing of his father days before last November’s mayoral election and his wife Heidi’s fight against breast cancer.
The prosecution’s memo also points to the seriousness of the Capitol riot as a reason to impose a prison sentence on DiGiovanni. It states that a prison sentence is needed in order to deter future would-be rioters.
It notes DiGiovanni wasn’t violent nor did he destroy anything inside the building, but was nevertheless part of a group that interrupted the peaceful transition of power in the U.S.
“Many of the rioters intended that their attack on the Capitol would disrupt, if not prevent, one of
the most important democratic processes we have: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected President,” the memo says. “There is possibly no greater factor that this Court must consider.”
It points to other cases stemming from Jan. 6 in which rioters were charged with misdemeanors and given prison sentences. It notes that the facts of DiGiovanni’s are unique, but says that a lack of prison time could be an “unwarranted sentencing disparity” when placed in the context of other Jan. 6 cases.
