Former top swimmer Klete Keller benefited from plea bargaining.
Klete Keller sent a flying kiss to the stands in the medley relay after her qualifying heat performance at the Beijing Olympics. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
Olympic champion in swimming Clete Keller, 41, was sentenced on Friday to 36 months of parole and six months of house arrest. Keller must also perform community service for 360 hours.
On January 6 of the following year, Keller participated in the takeover of the Capitol, where a crowd demonstrating in the capital, Washington, rushed into the US Congress building. Almost a thousand people got in.
That day, Keller, dressed in a Team USA jacket, was said to have been in the congress for about an hour and resisted the riot police’s order to leave before using force and tear gas.
Federal prosecutors sought a 10-month prison sentence for the man on seven counts, but participating in plea bargaining dropped the number of charges to one and reduced the severity of the sentence.
– I have no excuse as to why I am in front of you today, Keller said at Friday’s hearing, according to the AP news agency.
– I understand that my actions were criminal and I take full responsibility for my behavior.
Keller represented the USA at the Olympics three times, in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Of the five medals, two are gold. He ended his sports career after the Beijing Games in 2008.
Source: The Athletic