A suburban tech CEO who lost his job after being charged with various offenses related to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol has become the first Illinoisan to be found guilty for his part in the riot.
Bradley Rukstales, 53, of Inverness, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to willfully and knowingly parading, demonstrating and picketing inside the Capitol. The misdemeanor offense carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.
Rukstales was president and CEO of the Schaumburg-based tech company Cogensia. It placed him on leave the day he was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and a day later it fired him, saying his actions were inconsistent with the company’s core values.
Rukstales, who campaign finance records show contributed thousands of dollars to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, said in a written statement just after the riot that he followed others into the Capitol to see what was happening, and that he regretted his participation.
“Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place,” he wrote. “It was the single worst personal decision of my life; I have no excuse for my actions and wish that I could take them back.”
Prosecutor Susan Lehr described a chaotic scene in which Rukstales was among a group of rioters who confronted police in the Capitol’s crypt, a circular room beneath the rotunda. She said Rukstales threw a chair that had fallen to the bottom of a stairwell toward officers, though they were far enough away that they were in no danger of being struck by it.
When Rukstales refused commands to leave, she said, an officer brought him to the ground, dragged him behind a police line and arrested him.
Rukstales told Judge Carl Nichols that he wasn’t trying to hit anyone with the object.
“I was very careful when I threw the chair that no one was in striking distance,” he said.
Nichols set Rukstales’ sentencing hearing for Nov. 12.
The former CEO is among 13 Illinoisans to be charged in the Capitol breach, part of a criminal investigation prosecutors have described as one of the largest in American history.
Other Illinois residents facing prosecution include John Schubert, 71, and his wife, Amy, 61, of Crest Hill, charged in July with unlawful entry of a government building and disorderly conduct. Both charges are misdemeanors.
Also charged in July was Shane Jason Woods, 43, of Auburn, who was accused of assaulting members of the media and tripping a police officer who was running from bear spray during the Capitol unrest.
Chicago police Officer Karol Chwiesiuk was accused of breaching the building with the mob and entering the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Another man, Christian Kulas, 24, of Kenilworth, was arrested on charges alleging he posted video of himself on Instagram storming the Capitol building during the siege while wearing a designer coat and pro-Trump hat.
Only six of the more than 500 people charged in the investigation have been sentenced, according to Department of Justice records. The first, Bloomington, Indiana, resident Anna Morgan-Lloyd, pleaded guilty in June to parading, demonstrating and picketing inside the Capitol and received 36 months of probation.
Two men from Florida are the only ones to get prison time so far. One of them, Michael Curzio, pleaded guilty in July to the same charge that faced Rukstales and Morgan-Lloyd and got the full six months, though his attorneys contended it was an overly harsh sentence attributable to his criminal record.
Curzio was reportedly released soon after the sentencing because he had been locked up since his Jan. 14 arrest.
Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed to this story.
Twitter @JohnKeilman
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August 31, 2021 at 09:51PM
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Fired tech CEO from Inverness pleads guilty in US Capitol siege on Jan. 6 - Chicago Tribune
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