One-time CT mayoral candidate gets 10-day sentence for entering U.S. Capitol during Jan. 6 riot

Derby builder and one-time mayoral candidate Gene DiGiovanni was sentenced to ten days in jail Wednesday for entering the U.S. Capital on Jan. 6, 2021 when supporters of ex-President Donald Trump stormed the building during a joint session of Congress that was held to certify the 2020 presidential election.

DiGiovanni, 42, who faced a six month sentence, admitted he was in the building for a matter of minutes and he was not accused of violence or of causing any damage. He was tracked down by the army of amateur sleuths who studied thousands of hours of video recordings of the event and was confronted with his crime by a local television reporter at a meeting of the Derby Board of Alderman.

He was sentenced in federal court in Washington, D.C. When and where he serves his 10 days have yet to be determined. As part of the sentence, he was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution to the architect of the U.S. Capitol.

DiGiovanni told federal investigators he was in Washington to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally.

Afterwards, he walked down the National Mall to the Capitol with people referred to by prosecutors as “other rioters.” The Capitol building had been barricaded and closed to the public because then-Vice President Mike Pence was presiding over the vote certification.

DiGiovanni is accused of ignoring the barricades and walking past gangs of rioters chanting “take it back.” He entered the building through the Upper West Terrace door and strolled through the Rotunda and Statuary Hall before leaving. He was wearing a jacket with the name of his construction company.

The FBI affidavit filed in connection with DiGiovanni’s arrest asserts that the bureau began an investigation after being alerted by the television report by WVIT, the NBC affiliate in West Hartford.

Further investigation showed that DiGiovanni’s cellphone was inside the Capitol during the riot and additional video recordings show him “circumventing permanent and temporary security barriers manned by U.S. Capitol Police and unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021,” the document said.

DiGiovanni was elected to the Derby Board of Alderman after the Capitol riot. He won a Republican primary in his attempt to be elected mayor, but lost the election in November.