Frisco business owner who stormed US Capitol on Jan. 6 jailed for week

A Frisco business owner who chartered a private jet and stormed the Capitol building to attend a Donald Trump rally on Jan. 6 was sentenced Tuesday to seven days in jail, authorities said.

Jason Lee Hyland, 39, pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor count of displaying, exhibiting, or picking up in the Capitol building. A sentencing hearing was held in Washington on Tuesday.

He chartered the jet with Jennifer “Jenna” Ryan, a real estate broker from Frisco, and Katherine “Katie” Schwab, a real estate agent from Colleyville. Hyland and Schwab had a relationship that began around that time, authorities said.

Ryan, 52, posted on Facebook and Twitter about the Texas trio’s two-day trip to Washington. That includes a photo of her, Hyland and Schwab in front of a private jet on the tarmac at Denton Airport before takeoff on Jan. 5, 2021.

Ryan, who was defiant and unrepentant after the attack, was sentenced to 60 days in jail for rioting. Like Hyland, she pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors. But Ryan gained notoriety after the violence for bragging about her involvement online, and has said in media interviews that she does not regret her actions.

Ryan also tweeted: “Sorry I’m blonde and white skin. Good job, good job in the future and I’m not going to jail… I did nothing wrong.”

Schwab, 34, is scheduled to plead guilty next week.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also fined Hyland $4,000 and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution, officials said.

Prosecutors asked the judge to give Hyland 30 days in jail, saying he and Schwab shouted insults at riot police officers while defending the Capitol. The couple called the officers traitors and “infuriated the public,” prosecutor Karen Rochlin said in sentencing.

Hyland also told his co-defendants to destroy evidence and lied to the FBI about the nature of his involvement, prosecutors wrote.

Ryan and Schwab “shouted about insulting the media” during the riots, he said. And Schwab kicked some of the media equipment the crowd destroyed and threw another piece to the ground as Hyland and Ryan looked on, authorities said.

Hyland, who was remorseful and remorseful for his actions, did not seem concerned about the violence and property damage at the time, prosecutors said.

After leaving the Capitol, Hyland made three short videos, including one where he said: “They’re coming for taxpayers like me who pay over half a million dollars a year in taxes.” I got into this f-ing house because I’m a part of it. We will not stop. They cannot steal our election.

But defense attorney Nina Ginsburg said her client was only in the Capitol for about 2 minutes and didn’t post anything about the abuse on social media.

By cooperating with the FBI, she said he deserves probation because he has no criminal record, was not violent and did not cause any property damage during the rampage.

“While his brief visit to the Capitol and presence on the Capitol grounds cannot be overlooked, Mr. Hyland’s conduct in an unprecedented political tumult gives no reason to suspect that it was anything but bad behavior.” She wrote in her sentencing.

The three later returned to their hotel room and celebrated the Capitol breach, records show. The next day they flew back to Texas on a Highlander plane.

Later that day, Ryan texted Hyland and other travel companions to state that she was receiving “threats and other hostile responses” to her posts and broadcasts about the violence, according to court records.

“We did not commit violence or destroy property,” Hyland said in a message. I hope my generosity for plane travel is not returned. You all stopped talking to people about it. Completely. And delete all your related social media posts. Especially if I’m in them. Thanks in advance and I hope to see you all when the dust settles.

Hyland, a father of two, owns a roofing and construction business.

Hyland worked as a real estate agent from May 2012 to July 2017, the attorney said in the filing. In the year He left the firm in late 2017 to start a commercial general contracting business specializing in disaster recovery and commercial restoration, she said.

“Flight of the Patriots”

Hyland first invited “members of his social circle” to accompany him to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s rally, but none of them accepted, so he asked Facebook friends Ryan and Schwab, who he didn’t know, to accompany him. Records.

Hyland, who once held a student pilot’s license, posted a group message on Jan. 5, 2021, titled “Veteran Flight.” The message read: “Thank you for joining me in DC to stand up for America. This will be historic — regardless of the outcome,” he said, detailing the origin of the flight, court records show.

A witness provided FBI agents with text messages sent between the group, court records state.

On Jan. 6, the day of the riot, Ryan’s 21-minute Facebook Live video showed his group, including Hyland, marching toward the Capitol building. He entered the Capitol, blaring alarm bells as they passed through doors with broken windows.

In a January 19 interview with FBI agents, Hyland said he was responsible for the logistics of the flight but that he didn’t know any of his fellow travelers before the trip.

Hyland said the group stayed at a Washington hotel and attended a Trump rally the next day.

Hyland described climbing the steps of the Capitol as a ‘fun’. “There were two Capitol Police officers holding the doors open at the top of the stairs,” the affidavit said. Hyland asked him if he could come in, and one of the police officers said, ‘It’s someone else.’

Hyland said he left the building after hearing a “flash bang” sound that sounded like a grenade.

After the breach, Schwab posted the following on Facebook: “The National Guard was in there and didn’t move an inch. Sit back down. We didn’t fight at all… because there was no need. We raised hell after the girl was shot dead.