LI man pleads guilty to involvement in U.S. Capitol riot

A Farmingdale man who joined the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot pleaded guilty Friday to all 10 counts of a District of Columbia indictment that included felony charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Greg Rubenacker, 26, also admitted to obstructing Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote. An accompanying stipulation of facts he and his lawyer signed placed Rubenacker in the Capitol building and in the Rotunda at times when officers were trying to remove members of the mob from the building.

According to that document, he swung a water bottle at an officer and sprayed water at officers who were trying to remove him and others. He also filmed himself smoking marijuana in the Rotunda and posted video on social media with a caption, "Smoke out the Capitol, baby."

Rubenacker was arrested last February in Farmingdale, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. According to a docket entry for Rubenacker’s plea hearing, he was released on his own recognizance until his May 13 sentencing and his case was referred to the probation office for presentence investigation.

"By entering his plea today, Mr. Rubenacker has indicated his willingness to accept responsibility as well as his remorse for his actions on Jan. 6," said Rubenacker’s lawyer, Melville-based Michaelangelo Matera, in a phone interview.

He said Rubenacker rejected a plea agreement that would have dismissed the lower counts in exchange for pleading guilty to the top counts of assault and obstruction because prosecutors had demanded he waive his right to appeal and agree not to dispute their determination of the offense level.

"We decided to enter a plea to the entire indictment and reject the government’s plea offer because the plea offer sought to deprive us of the right to make certain arguments at the time of sentencing" about sentencing guidelines, Matera said.

Under the government’s estimation of applicable sentencing guidelines, Rubenacker could serve 41 to 51 months. Matera argued in a filing this week that the government’s calculation was incorrect. His calculations yielded a range of 24 to 30 months, he said, though judges are not bound by federal sentencing guidelines.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia declined to comment.

Rubenacker, a musician, was tipped off to the FBI by an unidentified person who went to school with him and saw the recordings he had posted on Snapchat, according to papers filed last year by officials in federal court in Central Islip.

According to the Justice Department, by the end of 2021, more than 725 defendants had been arrested in connection with the riot, charged with assault, conspiracy, destruction or theft of government property and other offenses. About 165 people pleaded guilty to federal charges, including 20 who pleaded guilty to felonies. Six of those pleaded guilty to charges related to assaults on law enforcement. Thirty-one people had been sentenced to imprisonment.

According to a Justice Department database, at least five people have been arrested on Long Island in connection with the riot. They include Justin McAuliffe and Thomas Fee, who pleaded guilty. Also arrested was Eric Gerwatowski, 31, of New Hyde Park. He and his lawyer have not commented.