Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty in August to assaulting a police officer.
A former MMA fighter became the first person to be sentenced for assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Scott Fairlamb, who also runs a gym in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, received a 41-month prison sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding in August.
“It’s such a serious offense … an affront to society and to the law, to have the Capitol overrun and the function of government stopped,” said Judge Royce Lamberth, noting that the assault had struck “in the heart of our democracy.”
Fairlamb, whose brother is a Secret Service agent who once led Michelle Obama’s security team, was reportedly among the first people to storm the Capitol, with prosecutors alleging that he made it into the Senate side of the building. He was captured on video punching a police officer during the insurrection, and was identified after multiple people sent tips to the FBI, which led to his arrest in January. He was indicted in February on 12 federal criminal counts but pleaded not guilty on April 13. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that Fairlamb would be held without bail pending the outcome of his trial.
Fairlamb is also the first Capitol insurrectionist to plead guilty to assault. His case will likely set a precedent for the sort of judicial punishment that will be reserved for the Capitol insurrectionists. For his part, the former MMA fighter appeared to show remorse for his actions on Jan. 6.
“I truly regret my actions that day. I have nothing but remorse,” Fairlamb said in court Wednesday, “My life got pulled out from under me, and it’s no one’s fault but myself.”
Fairlamb was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release following his time in prison and will have to pay $2,000 for damage done to the Capitol.
Fairlamb, who went by the nickname “Wildman” during his MMA career, compiled a 0-1 professional record. His amateur record is unknown. His final fight took place at Ring of Combat 31 in 2010, where he lost to Michael Andrillo by submission. At the time, he fought out of the AMA Fight Club, which boasted fighters such as Charlie Brenneman, Rafaello Oliveira, and Ricardo Romero.