Notorious January 6 Defendant Confronted by Ashli Babbitt Pleads With Judge After Conviction
One of the most active and visible rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, who smashed windows and taunted police in the lobby where Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot, is asking a federal judge to sentence him to time served so he can get mental health treatment and not risk “further radicalization” in the federal prison system.
Zachary Jordan Alam asked U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich to depart downward from federal sentencing guidelines and order him to serve no more than 40 months in prison for his conviction on six felony and three misdemeanor charges. Alam has been in custody for 45 months.
Prosecutors recommend Judge Friedrich depart upward from guidelines and sentence Alam, 33, of Centreville, Virginia, to more than 11 years in prison at his Oct. 16 sentencing hearing in Washington, D.C.
Alam’s sentencing has been repeatedly delayed since a jury found him guilty of 10 charges on Sept. 12, 2023. The most recent delays were caused by new information from Alam’s mother on his history of family trouble and mental instability — including a suicide attempt while he was in medical school in 2015.
Alam’s Aug. 14 supplemental sentencing memo was heavily redacted and filed partly under court seal. Defense attorney Steven Metcalf II attributed his client’s criminal behavior on Jan. 6 to emotional instability rather than a “specific criminal intent.” (Read more from “Notorious January 6 Defendant Confronted by Ashli Babbitt Pleads With Judge After Conviction” HERE)
