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Press Release
WASHINGTON – Three people – two from North Carolina and one from New York - pleaded guilty today to felony charges for their actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Dale Jeremiah Shalvey, 38, of Conover, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and obstruction of an official proceeding. His wife, Tara Aileen Stottlemyer, 37, and Katharine Hallock Morrison, 38, of Dansville, New York, each pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding.
According to court documents, the three defendants traveled together on Jan. 6, 2021, and illegally entered the Capitol grounds. At approximately 2:09 p.m., Shalvey walked to a bike rack on the West Front of the Capitol, which was to act as a barricade, and assaulted law enforcement officers by throwing an object that hit an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department.
At approximately 2:20 p.m., Shalvey, Stottlemyer, and Morrison entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door and then moved to various areas within the building, including the Crypt, the House’s Suite, the Rotunda, and the Senate Chamber. Inside the Senate Chamber, Shalvey and Morrison looked through Senators’ desks, while all three defendants took pictures of documents that were in and on those desks. Shalvey also took a letter written by Senator Mitt Romney to Vice President Michael Pence from a Senator’s desk and destroyed it after leaving the Capitol. They exited the building at approximately 3:05 p.m.
Shalvey was arrested on March 9, 2021, in Washington, D.C. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding and up to eight years in prison on the charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Stottlemyer was arrested on Sept. 14, 2021, in Conover, North Carolina. Morrison was arrested on Feb. 10, 2022, in Dansville, New York. Both Stottlemyer and Morrison face up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The defendants are to be sentenced Jan. 20, 2023.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of New York, Western District of North Carolina, and Western District of Pennsylvania.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Buffalo, Charlotte, and Pittsburgh Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 20 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 870 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 265 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.