US prosecutors estimate damage of Capitol storming

Federal prosecutors said the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol caused $1.5 million in damages and indicated that individuals accused of participating in the riot would be asked to foot the bill, Report informs referring to Reuters.

The Justice Department disclosed the $1.5 million figure in a letter to a defense lawyer for Paul Allard Hodgkins, a Florida man who pleaded guilty on June 2 to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.

More than 440 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riots, in which throngs of Republican former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory.

Few guilty pleas have been entered so far since the Justice Department launched its sweeping investigation into the deadly attack on the Capitol, in a sign that prosecutors are driving a tough bargain.

The charge against Hodgkins can carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. However, US District Judge Randolph Moss said federal sentencing guidelines call for a sentence in the range of 15 to 21 months.