Barber sentenced to 45 days in jail; two years probation

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Eric Barber is sentenced to 45 days in jail and then probation for his role in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Former Parkersburg City Councilman was sentenced Tuesday morning before Judge Christopher Cooper in United States District Court in Washington, D.C.

Judge Cooper sentenced Barber to 45 days in jail for count 4, which was being unlawfully in the U.S. Capitol.

Barber was also given a 7-day suspended sentence on count 5 for stealing a charger from CSPAN.

Barber must also pay $500 dollars in restitution. This payment will be for damage at the Capitol.

Barber must also pay $52.95 to CSPAN for the charger.

Barber will also serve two years of probation after serving his jail time.

The other charges against Barber were dropped.

Prosecutors had requested Barber serve four months in prison in a sentencing memorandum filed last month.

Barber did address the court before the sentencing has handed down. He talked about his youth and how being raised in foster care impacted him. He said not being raised in a traditional way left him unprepared to be an adult. Barber added that led him to crimes that landed him in prison when he was 20.

He said he worked hard to overcome his past by giving back to the community and then running for office, where he served on City Council.

Barber said he was proud of his time on council and the endorsements from law enforcement and the firefighter community.

He said in his statement to the court that he was proud of his accomplishments, and he felt he had righted the wrongs from his youth.

He said during his time on council; he received threats from people with Black Lives Matter and Antifa.

He said this was not the 15 minutes of fame people would want, and he was not trying to glorify what happened. He says his remorse was immediate and that he talked to the media about January 6 to show remorse and said that what was done at the Capitol was wrong and he should have done it.

Barber says he will have to live with his actions for the rest of his life.

He said a longer sentence could cost him his job and hurt his family financially.

Here is a statement we received from Barber after his sentencing:

“A stolen phone charger is nothing compared to a stolen election. Any crimes I committed January 6th pale in comparison to the lifelong criminal enterprise Nancy Pelosi has engaged in during her decades in congress (i.e. insider trading). If I had a judge assigned to my case that was appointed by President Trump I would have received no jail sentence, unfortunately, I had an Obama appointee and as a result, I’ll have to do 6 weeks in a minimum-security facility as a political prisoner. 45 days is more than most defendants received for a petit misdemeanor of illegal parading...however 6 weeks isn’t much and will be over fairly quickly. I think a lot of folks were confused that rioting wasn’t an acceptable form of protesting after democrats spent two years burning down cities and attacking federal buildings during the BLM/Antifa riots of 2020. Had federal prosecutors been so enthusiastic about prosecuting Antifa rioters as they were with trump supporters maybe people would have been hesitant to engage in behavior that liberals celebrated as a form of peaceful protesting.”

Barber pleaded guilty back in December to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol Building and one count of theft.