A Watertown woman has been found guilty of felony charges for helping to steal former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb found 56-year-old Maryann Mooney-Rondon guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting the theft of government property. The verdict followed a trial "in which Mooney-Rondon and the government agreed upon a stipulated set of facts regarding her conduct," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
Court documents say Mooney-Rondon and her son, Rafael Rondon, attended a rally on the Ellipse, located south of the White House, then marched to the Capitol.
The two illegally entered the grounds and went into the building through the Senate Wing Door at around 2:23 p.m. About 10 minutes later, they went into Pelosi's office suite and moved into a conference room where they helped an unidentified male steal a laptop.
The court documents say they later went into the Senate Gallery and each stole a satchel with emergency escape hoods (filtering respiratory protective devices) and left the building at about 2:52 p.m.
Mooney-Rondon and her son were arrested in Syracuse in October 2021. Rafael Rondon, who was 23 at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty in December to obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting in the obstruction of an official proceeding.
The investigation into the pair's conduct also led Rondon to be charged with possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia., Rondon pleaded guilty to that charge in December.
Rondon's sentencing hearings are slated for June, while Mooney-Rondon's is scheduled for July 18. She faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge.
James Bonet of Glens Falls was also arrested on multiple charges for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. He pleaded guilty to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and was sentenced in March 2022 to 90 days of incarceration, a year of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and payment of $500 in restitution.
Bonet and the Rondons are among more than 1,000 people who have been arrested for crimes related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, which remains under investigation by the Department of Justice. Anyone with tips is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.