KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Olathe man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a felony charge connected to his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Christopher Kuehne, 50, was one of the first Kansas City-area residents to be charged in connection to the January 2021 attacks. Kuehne, a former Marine, was charged with conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
On Thursday, Kuehne pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly set a sentencing date for Feb. 23, 2024.
Kuehne was one of four Kansas City-area Proud Boys that were charged roughly a year after the Jan. 6 attack.
Ryan Ashlock reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in June 2022 in which he was sentenced to 70 days in federal prison, a year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $500 fine.
In April 2022, Blue Springs resident Louis Enrique Colon, one of the other Kansas City Proud Boys charged in the attacks, pleaded guilty for his role.
The criminal case against the fourth defendant charged, William Chrestman, is ongoing, with a status conference set for Sept. 18, 2023.
Kuehne was one of the group of people that made it inside of the capitol during the attack.
Federal prosecutors say once Kuehne and others were forced out of the capitol, he deleted materials from his phone that he had sent to others in his group and encouraged his co-conspirators to do the same.
Prior to his arrival to the capitol, Kuehne sent a message to others in the group regarding a potential confrontation with Antifa and BLM, stating, “Be prepared not only to beat down but when you do action of violence so utterly massive that we send a message.”
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