A Haddonfield influencer is expected to leave prison soon after Capitol riot sentencing

A South Jersey man, sentenced to a 48-month term as a U.S. Capitol rioter, is expected to be released after one year in custody.

Patrick Stedman, 36, of Haddonfield will be freed Oct. 27, according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. This follows an appellate ruling in September that vacated the most serious charge against him, a felony obstruction charge, and returned it to the trial court.

Under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Stedman, the prosecution will not retry the felony charge.

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In turn, Stedman won’t appeal his conviction on five misdemeanor charges, said defense attorney Rocco Cipparone of Haddon Heights.

In setting Stedman’s release date, Howell noted that he’ll leave prison after spending one year at FCI Fort Dix.

That 12-month period matches the maximum sentence for two of Stedman’s misdemeanors. The other two brought six-month terms. All were to be served at the same time as Stedman’s four-year term.

Stedman is to be resentenced for the misdemeanors at a future date, raising the prospect that the judge will find he’s completed his time in custody, Cipparone said.

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Howell’s ruling noted that the prosecution, in requesting Stedman’s initial sentence, had not called for consecutive terms for the misdemeanors.

Stedman, arrested just 15 days after the riot, is among more than 15 South Jersey residents to be charged in connection with the insurrection by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. He was found guilty of all charges after a five-day trial in June 2023.

Jurors heard that the social media influencer urged his followers to come to Washington, D.C., for the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that turned into a violent riot.

“This is the second American Revolution,” Stedman told his followers, according to Howell’s ruling.

It said he entered the Capitol about 10 minutes after an entrance was breached, and that — screaming “It’s our f—ing house!” — he made his way to the chambers of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Stedman, who described himself as being in the “first wave” of Capitol intruders, also said certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory would be “treason.”

In her Aug. 28 decision to release Stedman, Howell found the married father of two was not a flight risk or a danger to his community.

But she said the prosecution’s concern over his persistence in spreading misinformation “is both sufficiently legitimate and serious to provide reason to pause.”

She noted Stedman had written an essay sympathetic to rioters that appeared on his business website.

Stedman “may spew this nonsense to retain, attract and grow his online following to make money and increase his popularity, or this may reflect his actual beliefs,” the judge wrote in her decision.

She said the essay “confirms a distorted view of reality” that fueled the Capitol riot and “certainly shows his continued lack of remorse for his egregious criminal conduct.”

But Howell also noted Stedman had not called for violence.

Cipparone noted in a motion that his client committed no infractions while in prison.

“He does not intend to and will not violate the court’s release order, and he has demonstrated that he can and will abide by the court’s terms,” Cipparone wrote.

The Class A misdemeanor charges against Stedman are entering and remaining, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

He’s also accused of disorderly conduct and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Haddonfield social media influencer Pat Stedman was in Capitol riot