South Florida Proud Boys member sentenced to prison on felony charges related to Jan. 6
MIAMI — A South Florida man and Proud Boys member was sentenced to prison on Thursday for his involvement in the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Gilbert Fonticoba, 49, of Hialeah, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly. He was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder — both felonies — following a stipulated bench trial on Oct. 6, 2023, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Fonticoba was a member of the "Vice City" chapter of the Proud Boys in Miami since 2019 and participated in a coordinated effort to obstruct the certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6, 2021.
On the morning of the insurrection, Fonticoba met with a group of approximately 100 Proud Boys members near the Washington Monument around 10 a.m. As instructed, he didn't wear any colors representing the right-wing group but wore a shirt that read "ENRIQUE TARRIO DID NOTHING WRONG!" underneath his jacket, the DOJ stated.
Shortly after 10 a.m., the group left the rally and began to march east toward the Capitol, where he remained at or near the front of the group with senior Proud Boys leaders.
Then around 12:45 p.m., the group mustered into a column and marched toward the Capitol grounds near the Peace Monument. Within minutes of arrival, the group and members of the crowd surged forward toward a police barricade, where Fonticoba was among the first wave of rioters to advance and overwhelm the police line, the DOJ stated.
Around 12:54 p.m. after crossing trampled police barricades, Fonticoba walked up the Pennsylvania walkway on restricted grounds of the Capitol with several co-defendants. According to the DOJ, Joe Biggs -- a Proud Boys leader -- recorded himself and Fonticoba as they made their way to the Capitol. He, Biggs and others gathered in "stack formation" and continued to the front of the mob.
According to the DOJ, Fonticoba and the others were stopped a waist-high black metal fence that had been bolted into the ground, and law enforcement officers had reformed the police line on the other side of the fence. Officers then commanded the crowd to stop advancing toward the Capitol and disperse. However, Fonticoba, Biggs and other Proud Boys began to pull down the fencing and continued with the mob and headed toward the West Plaza.
Around 1:21 p.m., Fonticoba and his associates moved away from the police line and regrouped on the west lawn as law enforcement struggled to repel the mob. While on the lawn, Fonticoba used an encrypted chat group that was created by D.C. Proud Boys members to recruit another member — Gabriel Garcia — to join up with them. Fonticoba, Biggs and the other Proud Boys then moved back to the front of the crowd. Within minutes, Fonticoba was among a surge of rioters to push up a flight of concrete stairs after another Proud Boys associate — Daniel Lyons Scott — initiated the push by assaulting two officers, the DOJ stated.
Around 2:14 p.m., Fonticoba entered the Capitol building with other Proud Boys through the Senate Wing door and posted to Telegram "We just stormed the capital [sic]" shortly later.
Following the riot, Fonticoba rejoined with senior Proud Boys leaders, including Tarrio, in a Baltimore hotel. According to the DOJ, while in the hotel room, he continued to celebrate the day's events, including having a phone conversation, when he excitedly declared "We breached the f***in' Capitol hill, brah. We breached the f***in' Capitol building, brah."
Later on Oct. 26, 2021, the FBI arrested Fonticoba in Miami.
Fonticoba's sentencing came just days after authorities arrested three Jan. 6 fugitives in Florida: Jonathan Daniel Pollock, Olivia Michele Pollack and Joseph Daniel Hutchinson III. In September 2023, Tarrio's mother spoke to reporters following her son's 22-year prison sentencing.