Springfield area woman sentenced to 45 days in halfway house for role in January 6 insurrection

A Battlefield woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to a misdemeanor offense in connection with her participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection was sentenced to 45 days in a halfway house today during a video hearing in U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

In addition to her time in the halfway house, Hentschel, who has a lengthy criminal history and was on probation at the time of her D. C. trip, will serve three years on probation, pay a $500 fine and pay $500 restitution.

FBI investigators did not have a hard time finding Hentschel who posted photos from January 6 on her Facebook account and was captured on surveillance footage.

From the plea agreement filing:

The records obtained from Facebook revealed a conversation between HENTSCHEL and PERSON 3 that occurred on or about January 6, 2021, excerpts of which are below: 

PERSON 3: Hey were you there in that protest!! At the capitol 

HENTSCHEL: Uh yeah dawg 

PERSON 3: Ahhh that’s awesome!!!! I was looking for ya on tv! I didn’t see ya. But y’all are out there getting it! Did you get inside the capitol? 

HENTSCHEL: I’m here 

PERSON 3: Well be safe cara and always have fun I support ya �� good job!!! Wished I could be there 

HENTSCHEL: I was the first group in. Yes. We storm peloskis office and took her beer. She drinks Corona3 

PERSON 3: That’s wild I’m glad you didn’t get arrested wow that’s wild lol hell yea

According to Hentschel, she knew that protestors were surrounding the Capitol building but did not know their goal was to go inside. Hentschel stated that she did not want to go inside the building because she knew they were prohibited from doing so.

She claims that she had no choice but to enter the building; she either had to enter the Capitol or fight the crowd to avoid entering. She then claimed that she only stayed inside until she was able to find a safe way out. 

Her own contemporaneous statements on social media and the video evidence flatly contradict those claims. First, her social media posts during the riot, including the post of the crowd with the caption “Storming the Capitol” and her posts following the riot demonstrate her intent and disprove any notion that she was an innocent bystander who got pushed into the Capitol because of the crowd. 

Second, video footage from the Capitol demonstrate that she had opportunity to leave soon after entering the building, but instead, she walked through halls and the Rotunda and took photographs. 

In her interview, Hentschel also stated that she did not see protestors assaulting police, which is again contradicted by video footage documenting her entry. Hentschel also said that she was hit with tear gas when she exited but does not know the source. 

Hentschel acknowledged during the interview that she did not go inside to the House Speaker Pelosi’s office and took beer as she boasted about in a Facebook conversation. Hentschel also acknowledged that she took photographs and videos of the riot with her phone but deleted them prior to her arrest.

Since 2008, Hentschel has been convicted of three felony offenses and eleven misdemeanors. In 2017, Hentschel was convicted in Greene County, Missouri Circuit Court of two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance (heroin) and one felony count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (methamphetamine). 

The court initially sentenced Hentschel to eight years’ incarceration for the possession with intent to distribute offense and seven years for the drug possession offenses. The court then suspended those prison terms and placed Hentschel on probation for five years.

Between 2017 and 2019, Hentschel violated the terms of her probation a remarkable eleven times, and her probation was ultimately revoked, and her underlying prison sentences were reimposed. 

Hentschel was able to participate in an early release program, which made her eligible, absent bad behavior, for release after 120 days incarceration. She was released from incarceration and placed back on probation for a period of five years. 

Hentschel was serving her probationary sentence when she traveled to the Capitol and participated in the riot. In addition to her felony convictions, Hentschel’s eleven misdemeanors include driving while intoxicated, harassing a public officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving with a revoked license. Six of the misdemeanor convictions involved crimes of moral turpitude, which included stealing and theft of items valued between $500 and $25,000.