October 07, 2024
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Lockport woman sentenced to jail for role in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot

Federal judge sentences woman’s husband to probation

By Felix Sarver
Kelly Lynn Fontaine "celebrated amidst the chaos outside the Senate Wing Door," on Jan. 6, 2021, according to federal prosecutors. The photo was filed in a sentencing memorandum by prosecutors in the case against Fontaine and her husband, Bryan Dula.

Kelly Lynn Fontaine "celebrated amidst the chaos outside the Senate Wing Door," on Jan. 6, 2021, according to federal prosecutors. The photo was filed in a sentencing memorandum by prosecutors in the case against Fontaine and her husband, Bryan Dula. (Photo provided by courtesy of U.S. District C)

A federal judge sentenced a Lockport woman to serve time in jail for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol but not her husband, who instead must serve probation, court records show.

On Oct. 1, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Kelly Lynn Fontaine, 54, to serve 21 days in jail for engaging in “disorderly or disruptive conduct on the grounds or in the buildings” of the U.S. Capitol, according to the federal court docket in her case.

Fontaine was also sentenced to three years of probation for “parading, demonstrating, or picketing” in the U.S. Capitol building.

Walton sentenced Bryan Dula, 53, Fontaine’s husband, to three years of probation for both of those offenses, which are misdemeanors. Walton’s sentence for Dula went against the recommendation of prosecutors, who requested Dula serve 14 days in jail.

Fontaine must surrender herself on Jan. 1, 2025, to serve out her jail sentence.

Kelly Lynn Fontaine (left) and Bryan Dula onboard one of the two flights taken by the couple on Jan. 5, 2021, according to Federal Bureau of investigation. The photo was obtained in the investigation of the couple and filed in a federal complaint against them.

Kelly Lynn Fontaine (left) and Bryan Dula onboard one of the two flights taken by the couple on Jan. 5, 2021, according to Federal Bureau of investigation. The photo was obtained in the investigation of the couple and filed in a federal complaint against them. (Photo provided by courtesy of U.S. District Court records)

In a court filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Smith had called for jail time for the Lockport couple based on their decision to “participate in events of [Jan. 6, 2021], to enter the U.S. Capitol building during the riot, and to contribute to the chaos inside.”

“Further, Fontaine’s later propagation of lies about the riot and its causes call for additional deterrence for her, specifically,” Smith said.

Smith said there is a potential for a repeat of the 2021 riot with the 2024 presidential election on the horizon and many “loud voices in the media and online continuing to sow discord and distrust.”

“The court must sentence Fontaine and Dula each in a manner sufficient to deter them specifically, and others generally, from going down that road again,” Smith said.

Fontaine’s attorney, Daniel Hesler, said in a court filing that “simplest explanation” for why Fontaine and Dula went to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, was “because [U.S. President] Donald Trump invited them.”

Hesler said Trump and “others working in concert with him did everything in their power” to make people believe the election was stolen and “helping Donald Trump helped America.”

“[Trump] strategically appealed to the same kinds of impulses in [Fontaine and Dula] that in previous generations inspired hundreds of thousands of Americans to enlist to fight and die in World War II,” Hesler said.

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