Frisco business owner who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 got a week in jail

A Frisco business owner who chartered a private jet to attend a January 6 rally and then stormed the Capitol was sentenced to seven days in prison on Tuesday, officials said.

Jason Lee Hyland, 39, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of marching, demonstrating, or picketing the Capitol in March.

He chartered the jet with Frisco real estate broker Jennifer “Jenna” Ryan and Collieville real estate agent Katherine “Katie” Schwab, according to federal court records. Officials say Hyland and Schwab’s relationship began around that time.

Ryan, 52, documented the Texas trio’s two-day trip to Washington on Facebook and Twitter. Among them was a photo of her, Hyland and Schwab posing in front of her private plane on the tarmac of Denton Airport before her departure on January 5, 2021.

Rebellious and unrepentant after the attack, Ryan served a 60-day sentence for her role during the violent uprising. rice field. However, Ryan gained notoriety for bragging about her participation online after her riot, and she said in media interviews that she doesn’t regret her actions.

Ryan also posted a tweet, saying, “Sorry blonde hair, white skin, great job, great future, I’m not going to jail…I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Schwab, 34, is due to plead guilty next week.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also fined Hyland $4,000 and ordered him to pay $500 in damages, officials said.

Prosecutors asked the judge to give Hyland a 30-day prison sentence, saying Hyland and Schwab insulted a police officer who was fighting a mob while guarding the Capitol. The two called the officer a traitor and “may have angered the crowd thereby,” prosecutor Karen Rochlin said in a sentencing memo.

Hyland also told co-defendants to destroy evidence and lied to the FBI about the nature of their involvement, prosecutors wrote.

Ryan and Schwab “cried insults about the media” during the riot. Schwab also kicked some media equipment destroyed by the mob and threw another piece of debris to the ground while Hyland and Ryan watched, officials said.

According to prosecutors, Hyland, who later expressed remorse and regret over his actions, did not appear concerned at the time about violence and destruction of property.

After leaving the Capitol, Hyland made three short video recordings. It included statements such as: I own part of it, so I just moved into this house. we are not going to stop. Elections cannot be stolen from us. ”

But his attorney, Nina Ginsberg, said her client was only inside the Capitol for about two minutes and didn’t post anything on social media about his achievement.

She said she cooperated with the FBI, had no criminal record, was not violent, and did not cause property damage during the riots, so she deserved probation.

“While his brief intrusion into the Capitol and his presence on the Capitol grounds is unacceptable, Mr Hyland believes his actions are anything but extraordinary in the midst of unprecedented political upheaval. You gave this court no reason to suspect anything,” Ginsburg and her wrote in their judgment memorandum.

The trio later returned to their hotel room to celebrate their breakthrough of the Capitol. They flew back to Texas the next day on a Highland plane.

Later that day, Ryan messaged Hyland and her other traveling companions, reporting that they were “received threats and other hostile reactions” to her posts and broadcasts about the riots, according to the court. The record said.

Hyland said in the message, “We didn’t use violence or destroy property. I hope the generosity to get on the plane didn’t backfire. You guys should tell people about it.” Stop talking. Completely. I will delete all relevant social media posts, especially if I am among them. Thanks in advance and hope to see you again when the dust settles.”

A divorced father of two, Hyland owns a roofing and construction business.

Hyland worked as a real estate agent from May 2012 to July 2017, his attorney said in her filing. He left her company in late 2017 to start a commercial general contractor business specializing in catastrophic restorations and commercial renovations, she said.

“Patriot Flight”

According to the court, Hyland originally invited “members of his social circle” to travel to Washington, D.C. to attend Trump rallies, but none accepted, so Facebook He asked his friends, Ryan and Schwab, to accompany him. record.

Hyland, who had a student pilot’s license, sent a group message on Jan. 5, 2021, with the subject line “Patriot Flight,” the FBI said. “Thank you for joining us in D.C. for him to stand up for America. Regardless of the outcome, this will be historic,” the message said, detailing the flight’s departure. court records show.

According to court records, witnesses gave FBI agents text messages that were sent between groups.

On January 6, the day of the riots, Ryan’s 21-minute Facebook Live video showed a group, including Hyland, walking towards the Capitol. He steps into the Capitol to the sound of an alarm going off, past doors with shattered windows.

In a Jan. 19 interview with an FBI agent, Hyland, who was in charge of the flight’s logistics, said he didn’t know the other travelers before the trip.

Hyland said the group spent the night at a hotel in Washington before attending a Trump rally the next day.

“Hyland described climbing the steps of the Capitol as a ‘funnel. There were two Capitol police officers at the top of the stairs holding the door open,” the affidavit said. “When Hyland asked if he could come inside, one of his officers said, ‘Everyone else.'”

Hyland said he exited the building after hearing a loud noise resembling a “flashbang” grenade.

Schwab posted the following on Facebook after the violation. they sat down. They didn’t fight us at all…because they didn’t need to. We launched hell after a girl was shot and killed. ”