Miles Adkins, 39, a former U.S. marine, admitted that he stormed the Capitol, drank beer and whiskey inside, yelled and danced there, and stepped over broken furniture to help a rioter enter through a smashed window.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cari F. Walsh asked for 45 days of incarceration, saying Adkins failed to show remorse and claimed he was a victim despite ignoring signs of violence around him. The prosecutor cited a need for “specific deterrence,” citing a pattern of conduct by Adkins — including convictions for reckless driving after refusing to undergo a breath test, a hit-and-run, driving on a suspended license, and revocations of probation.
Defense attorney Jay P. Mykytiuk emphasized that his client was nonviolent, and Adkins said he was a victim of a “two-tiered justice system” in which some other Jan. 6 defendants have received only fines.
“Mr. Adkins’s offenses, although certainly criminal, were peaceful in nature,” Mykytiuk said, and he “had no more sinister an agenda than to participate in a peaceful protest and have his voice heard by his elected officials.”
Adkins served four years as a Marine and was injured in Iraq after a heavy aircraft part fell on his back. Addiction to alcohol and prescription pain pills cost him jobs and his marriage, but he worked with veterans groups, earned a college degree and was elected to the Frederick County School Board in 2021, according to court records. He has been a divisive figure, coming under fire for antics such as sharing morphed social media images of other school board members with devil horns and Hitler-style mustaches, but has said he would not resign over his latest conviction.
Before his election, he was found guilty in Florida of leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. After joining the school board in 2022, he was charged with public intoxication in Prince William County, Va., and paid a $25 fine. Last year he was accused of driving while intoxicated in Loudoun County; he told the Winchester Star that he was texting, not drunk, and the charge was amended to reckless driving.
In a statement posted online Tuesday, the Frederick County School Board said, “We are aware of the court’s decision to sentence Mr. Adkins. However, our focus will stay where it needs to: on the children in our county. We will continue to make decisions that serve in the best interests of our students while working to ensure that the educational environment in our schools is not disrupted by these events.”
