A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Mariposa Castro, of Gilroy, to 45 days in jail Feb. 23 for her participation in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Castro, also known as Imelda Castro, was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, according to court documents.
Castro was arrested Jan. 21, 2021, in San Jose and charged with four counts, including the following: entering and remaining in any restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building with the intent to impede, disrupt, and disturb a session of Congress; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
On April 28, Castro pleaded not guilty to all four counts. Seven months later, she pleaded guilty to the charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building on Nov. 24.
In the plea agreement, she admitted that she climbed through a broken window and entered the Capitol, that she knew she did so without permission, and that she filmed herself in the Capitol in a series of videos that she uploaded several times to her Facebook page when still inside the Capitol and while on grounds of the Capitol.
Federal investigators found out about Castro’s alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riot through the videos, photos and comments she posted on social media, according to court documents. An unidentified “tipster” alerted the FBI to the social media content.
Castro is “well-known in the community for her counter-protest activities,” the court documents say.
“I’m going in. I’m going in, I’m going in the Capitol,” Castro said in one of her Jan. 6 videos, according to the court documents. “We’re in! We’re inside the Capitol house. We got inside the Capitol.”
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