WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced an active-duty sailor convicted of participating in the Capitol riot to 30 days of home detention on Friday — a sentence his attorney said could keep him from losing his 17-year career in the U.S. Navy.
Petty Officer First Class David Elizalde, a 46-year-old aviation structural mechanic in the Navy, was convicted in a bench trial last year of one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The charge is a petty misdemeanor that's among the least serious used in Jan. 6 cases. It carries a maximum sentence of up to six months in prison, although judges have frequently handed down probationary sentences with no jail time at all for those convicted of it.
However, Elizalde's attorney, Stephen F. Brennwald, said any period of probation beyond a 30-60-day term of home detention would likely result in the end of his career in the Navy.
“The military does not countenance its members being on probation, as it cannot be bound a by a person’s duty to report to a probation officer, or attend court, while on deployment or stationed overseas,” Brennwald said.
Prosecutors sought three years of probation — which has become the standard handed down in more than 500 Jan. 6 cases — plus 30 days of intermittent confinement, saying Elizalde had violated "his sworn obligation to defend the nation and the Constitution."
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols granted Elizalde's request for 30 days of home detention and the chance to remain a servicemember.
"Not because it's my job to ensure he doesn't lose his job, but because he has served our nation honorably," Nichols said.
Elizalde has been deployed around the world with the Navy and was stationed on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in Norfolk, Virginia, on Jan. 6. He was stationed at the naval base in Rota, Spain, when he was interviewed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) about his role in Jan. 6. According to his attorney, he's now stationed out of D.C.
In his interview with NCIS, Elizalde expressed no remorse for the events of Jan. 6 — instead describing it as a historic day.
“I know when all this is past and gone, ten years from now, twenty years from now, I know people are going to be talking about it,” Elizalde said. “And they’re going to be like, ‘Hey, were you there?’ And I was going to be like, ‘Yes and here’s my story,’ you know? It was just historical.”
Elizalde struck a different tone in court Friday during his sentencing hearing, saying he should have "exercised much better judgment."
"What at the time seemed like a historic day turned out to be one of the darkest days in the history of the nation," he said.
Elizalde also thanked Nichols for how his case had been handled.
"All this time I've been treated with dignity and respect," he said.
In addition to his term of home detention, Elizalde will also have to pay a $2,500 fine.
Although dozens of military veterans have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, Elizalde is one of only a handful of active-duty service members to be charged. Earlier this month, Marine Corps Maj. Christopher Warnagiris, who was separated from the military in early 2022, appeared for a bench trial on multiple counts, including felony charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding police. The verdict in that case wasn’t expected until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a pending challenge to the obstruction statute used to charge Warnagiris and hundreds of others in connection with Jan. 6.