'Olympic champion Clete Keller avoided jail for Capitol rebellion'

Olympic swimming champion avoided jail time as he was sentenced for his involvement in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Clete Keller, 41, was sentenced to three years probation and six months of home confinement.

He cooperated with law enforcement after pleading guilty in September 2021 to one charge of obstructing official process before Congress.

Keller competed for the U.S. three times in the Olympics and won gold medals in 2004 and 2008.

He was one of former President Donald Trump's supporters who stormed Congress as lawmakers met to affirm Joe Biden's election victory on January 6, 2021''year.

Video footage taken during the riot shows the 6-foot-6-inch-tall former athlete inside the Capitol building chanting obscenities at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

According to the indictment, Keller also physically resisted a police officer's attempts to remove him from the building. He was later identified by the Team USA athletic jacket he was wearing at the time.

"Clete Derick Keller once competed for the Olympics under the American flag,", prosecutors wrote in a preliminary sentencing memorandum in which they asked for a 10-month prison sentence.

Prosecutors also said Keller should help talk to young people about his mistakes, not sit in jail. "If ever there was a case that called specifically for a suspended sentence, this is it," Judge Richard Leon said. He also ordered Keller to perform 360 hours of community service.

He has a total of five medals, including two gold medals, from three Olympic Games, but has had personal and financial problems since his athletic career ended.

A total of about 1,200 people involved in the Capitol storming have already been prosecuted, of whom about 900 have pleaded guilty or been found guilty. Sentences have ranged from a few days to 22 years in prison.

"I'm ashamed that my father'''participated in the storming of the Capitol,' one of the sons said.