WASHINGTON (WKBW) — An Amherst woman avoided jail time for her role in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Traci J. Sunstrum, 45, was sentenced to 36 months of probation. She is also ordered to pay $500 in restitution.
The day of the riots Sunstrum posted on Facebook, “If I go to jail, I GO WITH PRIDE.”
CCTV footage from inside the Capitol recorded Sunstrum in the crowd.
Federal prosecutors sought a 14-day jail sentence as well as probation.
Sunstrum raised over $30,000 for her legal expenses through crowdfunding.
"Driving to DC from Buffalo to show my support was my duty, as well as a great pleasure, as a citizen of a country that had afforded me so many freedoms," she wrote in her appeal to donors.
Sunstrum entered into the plea agreement on Nov. 17,pleading guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In total, seven Western New York residents were charged for their alleged participation in the riots.
