(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Justice continues to be meted out for those who participated in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, and one of the defendants sentenced just last week was a recent law school admittee. For someone who had aspirations to enter the legal profession, this isn’t the side of the law you want to be on.
As first reported by CBS 42, would-be lawyer James Grant had been accepted to the University of Alabama School of Law in the Fall of 2021. In his sentencing memo, Grant’s lawyer, Robert Feitel, states that his client was accepted to the Top 50 law school with a full tuition scholarship. CBS has additional details:
Grant, 31, of Cary, North Carolina, climbed into the Capitol through a broken window and entered a senator’s office. After his arrest, he told investigators that the FBI was “the biggest threat to Americans” and that prosecuting Jan. 6 rioters was “a big witch hunt.”
One of the first to breach the interior of the Capitol, according to his own sentencing memo, Grant “wandered through the halls, entered a Senator’s office, where he was photographed sitting calmly.” Here’s that photo, where Grant can be seen giving the peace sign:
James Grant (Photo via sentencing memo)
As related in his sentencing memo, Grant’s father would later go on to tell a probation officer that his son had “made an incredibly stupid decision (regarding his conduct in the instant offense) which is not emblematic of his character.”
Although prosecutors asked that Grant be sentenced to nine years behind bars, he was instead sentenced to three years for his crimes. His attorney said it was “almost incomprehensible” that such a lengthy sentence had been recommended for his client.
Grant has been behind bars since January 2022 after he was charged with driving while drunk with an assault rifle in his car and will get credit for the time he has already spent locked up.
“I think I’ve been sufficiently punished,” Grant told the judge.
Grant’s attorney said he should be eligible for release almost immediately after getting credit for time served and good behavior in jail.
Per his own sentencing memo, “The opportunity to attend law school may well be lost to James forever.” Will Alabama Law be willing give a convicted J6 defendant a second chance? We suppose we’ll have to see.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
