A man who parked a van loaded with guns and firebombs near the US Capitol during last year’s riot was sentenced Friday to nearly four years in prison.
Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Lonnie Leroy Coffman of Alabama has yet to explain why he “had almost a small armory in his truck, prepared for battle.” She sentenced him to three years and 10 months in prison, acknowledging that since his arrest he has spent more than a year in jail.
Coffman, 72, of Falkville, Alabama, said he never intended to harm anyone or destroy property. He said he only went to Washington “to try to find out how fair and how safe the 2020 presidential election was.”
“If I had known things would take this turn, I would have stayed home,” the Vietnam War veteran wrote in a handwritten letter to the judge.
More than 770 people face general justice for crimes related to the insurrection, when supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to prevent lawmakers from formally certifying his defeat for re-election. Five people were killed and dozens of police officers were seriously injured.
More than 240 participants in the attack have pleaded guilty, mainly to misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in prison. Some 130 have been convicted. Coffman is one of nine defendants sentenced to more than a year in prison.
In the van he parked near the Capitol on the morning of Jan. 6, Coffman was carrying a pistol, a rifle, a shotgun, hundreds of projectiles, a crossbow, machetes, a stun gun and 11 glass jars with perforated lids, according to the tax. They added that each jar contained a mixture of gasoline and Styrofoam, components of homemade incendiary devices known as Molotov cocktails.
Police found the weapons and ammunition in Coffman’s truck when he was touring the area after explosives were found near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters. Components of Molotov cocktails were later found at Coffman’s Alabama home.