The mother and son duo who helped a Jan. 6 rioter steal former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s laptop was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 months and 18 months of home incarceration, respectively, according to WUSA9.
Maryann Mooney-Rondon and her 25-year-old son, Rafael Rondon, were taken into custody in Oct. 2021 after they were identified by Sedition Hunters, the online community that looks into Jan. 6 rioters using publicly available footage and videos posted on social media websites. These internet investigators referred to the pair as “AirheadLady” and “AirheadBoy” after they were recorded leaving the Capitol with stolen escape hoods meant for members of Congress and their staff.
NBC News reported that the pair were pinpointed by a Sedition Hunter comparing facial recognition to Facebook photos after the FBI incorrectly raided the residence of Marilyn Hueper in Alaska. Agents mistook Hueper, who was on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 but did not break into the building, for Mooney-Rondon.
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On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb said she was giving the pair a “significant break” and explained, “I just think that they were acting very stupidly.”
Rafael Rondon confessed to the FBI in August that he helped an unidentified man disconnect cables out of Pelosi’s laptop. Ahead of his sentencing, he said, “I made a stupid mistake. I realize that.”
WUSA9 stated Rafael was handed a 14-month prison sentence in July after pleading guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm.
Meanwhile, Mooney-Rondon admitted that she gave the thief gloves so that he wouldn’t leave any fingerprints. Prior to the ruling, she apologized to the court and said, “I was the adult in the room and I failed. I have brought embarrassment to my family.”
But when asked about why she committed the act, the mother claimed that the man who stole Pelosi’s laptop was working in an organized group and she only participated because it was the “easiest thing to do.”
The man in question has not yet been arrested.
