North suburban brothers Christian and Mark Kulas sentenced to probation, home detention in Capitol insurrection
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two north suburban brothers avoided prison time on Tuesday for their roles in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when they were sentenced to six months of probation, including 60 days of home confinement.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan handed down the identical sentences for brothers Christian Kulas, of Kenilworth, and Mark Kulas Jr., of Lake Forest, after they pleaded guilty last December to misdemeanor charges of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Both brothers also were ordered to pay $500 restitution as part of their sentence.
Federal prosecutors have said the brothers stayed at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. the night before the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Christian Kulas later took video of the "Stop the Steal" rally at which President Trump was speaking, and posting the video on his Instagram account.
The video shows Christian Kulas laughing, wearing a dark baseball-type cap with the words "Keep America Great" in bright orange letters, and a dark Burberry coat.
Another video clip from his Instagram account shows the inside of the Capitol, and a man is heard saying, "Storming the Capitol."
The Capitol riot, of course, took place during a joint session of Congress to certify the vote count for the Electoral College of the 2020 Presidential Election.
In a complaint, federal prosecutors said three days after the insurrection, the FBI received multiple tips that Kulas had been captured in images and video during the insurrection. The FBI interviewed several people, and a cooperating witness provided video clips from an Instagram account first showing a rally at which President Donald Trump was speaking, then people walking up the steps of the U.S. Capitol and shouting, "Block the steal!"
The camera then pans around to show Christian Kulas, who had been operating the camera the whole time. He is seen laughing in the video, wearing a dark baseball-type cap with the words "Keep America Great" in bright orange letters, and a dark Burberry coat.
The informant also provided additional information about the user of the Instagram account – saying Christian Kulas lived in the Winnetka-Lake Forest area and providing additional information about him.
The FBI also talked to another informant who has known Kulas for several years and reported attending middle school and high school with him. The second informant was highly confident that the person seen in the Burberry coat was Kulas, and also said he was the one who was heard saying, "Storming the Capitol." Other video footage from a variety of sources also appeared to show Kulas, including video taken by other rioters and official surveillance video, prosecutors said.
