WASHINGTON — A Florida Proud Boy and former member of Miami-Dade County Republican Executive Committee was convicted Friday of two felony counts for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Gilbert Fonticoba, a Hialeah, Florida, was indicted in 2021 on six counts for joining other members of the far-right Proud Boys in breaching the U.S. Capitol. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Friday for a stipulated bench trial on two of those counts under an agreement with the government. After hearing the facts both party's agreed upon, Kelly convicted Fonticoba of felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder. He will be sentenced on Jan. 11,
In a stipulated bench trial, prosecutors present a set of facts agreed to by both parties they feel are sufficient to uphold a conviction on one or more counts. The presiding judge then makes a determination of guilt. Although under Supreme Court precedent stipulated bench trials are not always tantamount to a guilty plea, defendants who agree to them and are convicted can – and in multiple Jan. 6 cases have – argue they deserve a reduction in their sentences for acceptance of guilt.
Stipulated bench trials have become increasingly popular in Jan. 6 cases. In August 2022, three men charged with joining the assault on police in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel were convicted by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden following a brief stipulated trial. In July, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta convicted an Ohio militia member, Donovan Crowl, of two felony counts for joining members of the Oath Keepers in a conspiracy to impede Congress on Jan. 6. During the same stipulated trial, Mehta acquitted another defendant, Oath Keeper James Beeks, on both counts – one of only two Capitol riot defendants to date to be fully acquitted. A third Oath Keeper, Michael Greene, was convicted by a jury on only a single misdemeanor trespassing count despite facing multiple charges of conspiracy.
Fonticoba can be seen in surveillance footage of Jan. 6 standing next to Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs inside the U.S. Capitol. He traveled to D.C. with other members of the group, including Gabriel Garcia, a former U.S. Army captain who is scheduled for a jury trial in November on similar charges. Both Fonticoba and Garcia were members of the Vice City chapter of the Proud Boys founded by former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, as well as members of the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, according to reporting by the New York Times. Garcia unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 2020.
Prior to reaching an agreement with the government, Fonticoba appeared to be on a trial footing. Last month, his attorney filed a motion seeking to limit what evidence of his involvement with the Proud Boys, and specifically his connection to Tarrio, could be shown to a jury. Fonticoba also sought to bar “all evidence of previous Proud Boys rallies in D.C.,” including a night of violent clashes in mid-December 2020 during which a historic Black church’s Black Lives Matter flag was burned. Tarrio later accepted responsibility for the crime and unlawfully bringing high-capacity magazines into D.C. and was sentenced to five months in prison.
Fonticoba’s decision not to go before a jury came just weeks after Kelly sentenced five other members of the Proud Boys to some of the lengthiest prison terms to date for their role in the riot. Dominic Pezzola, a Marine Corps veteran and member of the group’s Rochester chapter, received 10 years in prison for using a stolen police riot shield to smash in a window at the Capitol. Four leaders of the group convicted of seditious conspiracy – Zachary Rehl, Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Tarrio – received sentences ranging from 15 to 22 years in prison.