A former MMA fighter who admitted punching a cop at the Capitol riot got 41 months in prison, the longest sentence for a rioter so far

• A New Jersey man was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the Capitol riot.
• Scott Fairlamb, an ex-MMA fighter, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the attack.
• It is the longest sentence handed down to a January 6 defendant so far.

A New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to punching a police officer during the Capitol riot was handed the longest prison sentence so far for a January 6 defendant.

Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Scott Fairlamb to 41 months in prison at a Wednesday federal court hearing in DC, according to court documents seen by Insider.

Fairlamb, who is 44, is also expected to pay $2,000 in restitution and be under supervised release for three years, the documents said.

He is a former MMA fighter who owned a gym in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.

Fairlamb teared up as he received his sentencing, according to NBC Washington.

He said he took responsibility for his “reckless” actions and apologized for disgracing his family name, NBC Washington reported.

Video footage taken on January 6 shows Fairlamb pushing a Metropolitan Police Department officer, pointing a finger in his face, then punching him.

Fairlamb was also one of the first to breach the Capitol on January 6, entering it through a kicked-down door, Politico reported.

-Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 10, 2021

Lamberth said the sentence was a “canary in the coal mine” indicator of what dozens of other Capitol riot defendants can expect in the weeks to come, according to NBC Washington.

He also noted that Fairlamb’s sentence is unlikely to remain the longest for a rioter, noting he helped his case by pleading guilty, while others charged with similar wrongdoing have not.

“Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you or would have acquitted you,” Lamberth told Fairlamb as he announced his sentence, according to Politico. “You couldn’t have beat this.”

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they want an even longer prison term of 51 months for defendant Jacob Chansley, widely known as the “QAnon Shaman.”

Chansley is scheduled to be sentenced on November 17 by the same judge who sentenced Fairlamb.

Nearly 700 people have been arrested in connection to the attack, and more than 100 Capitol rioters have already pleaded guilty.