WASHINGTON — A Frederick County School Board member was sentenced Friday to 12 days of intermittent confinement after admitting to joining the mob that entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Miles Adkins, of Virginia, pleaded guilty Monday to two misdemeanor counts of disorderly or disruptive conduct and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He was sentenced the same day to two years of probation and a fine of $1,000. As a condition of his probation, Adkins was ordered to serve 12 days of intermittent confinement. Such a sentence is typically served on consecutive weekends until the term is complete.
Adkins was arrested in February on the standard four misdemeanor charges used in Jan. 6 cases. According to a statement of facts included in his plea deal, Adkins entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door approximately two minutes after the first breach of the building.
Once inside, Adkins waved to over rioters to come in and helped an individual enter the building through a broken window. He then walked through the upper lobby of the Capitol Visitor’s Center and the Crypt, at times joining in yelling and chanting with other rioters, before leaving the building at approximately 3:33 p.m.
According to charging documents, Adkins told another person on Facebook that he had drunk Fireball whiskey and a Coors Lite inside the Capitol. Investigators said he told the FBI during an interview that he’d previously come to D.C. a few times prior to Jan. 6 to act as an escort for “persons associated with the Oath Keepers,” specifically in November or December 2020, and had communicated with an Oath Keeper on Jan. 6 through the Signal messaging app.
Adkins was elected in November 2021 to represent the Shawnee District on the Frederick County School Board. On Monday, the board issued the following statement about his sentencing:
“The Frederick County School Board takes seriously its commitment to supervise and support our school division. As members elected to serve on this Board, we remain focused on working together to support our students, staff, and others who play an integral role in educating the children in our communities. We are aware of the court’s decision to sentence Mr. Adkins. However, our focus will stay where it needs to: on the children in our county. We will continue to make decisions that serve in the best interests of our students while working to ensure that the educational environment in our schools is not disrupted by these events.”
In the 41 months since the attack on the U.S. Capitol, more than 1,400 people have been charged with crimes ranging from entering a restricted area to seditious conspiracy. More than 1,000 defendants have now pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.