Olympic gold medal swimmer Klete Keller sentenced for role in Capitol riot

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Social Links forPriscilla DeGregory

Published Dec. 1, 2023, 5:38 p.m. ET

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Two-time Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller was sentenced Friday to six months of house arrest over his admitted role in the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

DC Senior US District Judge Richard Leon also sentenced the 41-year-old former champion swimmer to three years probation and ordered him to perform 360 hours of community service.

Keller pleaded guilty in September 2021 to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.

“I have no excuse for why I am in front of you today,” Keller told Leon before receiving his sentence. “I understand my actions were criminal and that I am fully responsible for my conduct.”

Keller’s lawyers, in court papers filed last month, asked the judge to sentence him to probation and a restitution payment, arguing that his “early acceptance” in being one of the first people to plead guilty in the case warranted leniency.

The facts that Keller wasn’t at the Capitol for a long time, that he didn’t hurt anyone or damage any property and that he has not been arrested before, also supported a no-jail sentence, wrote attorney Zachary Deubler.