"Despite seeing police officers assaulted, injured, and distressed on January 6, and knowing that it was a bad day for members of Congress and the police officers who had to live through the riot, Maly reiterated that his experience that day was 'fun.'" "Maly admitted to being proud of what he had done at the Capitol and that he had bragged about it," prosecutor Stephen Rancourt wrote in a court filing. 6 as "fun" and "awesome" in messages sent to his wife and others. Maly testified at his trial that participating in the Capitol riot was "fun" for him. He said Maly's fundraising activities may have been "unseemly," but he questioned whether there was a legal basis for clawing back the money. Prosecutors asked the judge to fine him an amount commensurate with his fundraising haul, noting that he had a public defender and didn't owe any legal fees. Maly has raised over $16,500 through a GiveSendGo donation page, referring to himself as a "January 6 P.O.W." While prosecutors acknowledge that defendants have a right to raise money for legal defenses, they're increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison terms to claw back donations used for personal expenses. Prosecutors say Maly is one of many Capitol rioters who have tried to profit from their notoriety, portraying themselves as patriots, martyrs, or political prisoners as they solicit donations from supporters. "It's not that you were there and 'occupying space.' It's that you did these things and kept doing them that day," the judge told him. The judge said jurors had ample evidence to convict Maly of assaulting police. But he insisted that he merely "occupied space" in the crowd and denied attacking and pepper-spraying police. Maly told US District Judge Amit Mehta that he regrets traveling to Washington and following the mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters to the Capitol. But the judge who sentenced Maly noted that most of his crimes date back to his 20s. A prosecutor described Maly, 49, as a "lifelong criminal" with 33 prior convictions on his record, including two for battery of a law enforcement officer.
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