Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Klete Keller sentenced to three years probation for role in Jan. 6 riot

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He got off without jail time because they say he is cooperating.

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Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Klete Keller sentenced to three years probation for role in Jan. 6 riot


Updated on: December 1, 2023 / 5:09 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — A U.S. Olympic gold medalist in swimming who admitted to being a part of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and obstructing Congress' work in certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election that day was sentenced Friday to three years probation and six months of home detention.


Klete Keller pleaded guilty in 2021 to the felony crime of obstruction of an official proceeding after he was recognized inside the Capitol Rotunda during the riot because of a U.S.A. athletic jacket he wore. He admitted to later trying to delete evidence on his phone and throwing away the jacket, according to court records.
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The Justice Department says he has since cooperated with investigators and helped in various cases, assistance that they said should be credited at sentencing.

"If there was one case that screamed out for probation, this is it," Judge Richard Leon said Friday as he opted not to impose any prison time. The judge called the case very usual and distinct from the other Jan. 6 cases he has presided over, noting Keller's remorse and desire to serve. ..........................


Klete Derik Keller once wore the American flag as an Olympian. On January 6, 2021, he threw that flag in a trash can," prosecutors wrote in their pre-sentencing filings, urging the judge to sentence the former Olympic athlete to 10 months in prison. The defendant, they said, did not leave the Capitol when police demanded and instead chose to stay "because his preferred candidate lost an election." ........................................







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File: Figure identified by the government as U.S. Olympic medalist Klete Keller on Jan. 6, 2021, at U.S. Capitol. Government exhibit