A Gorham man has pleaded guilty to participating in the U.S. Capitol insurrection, admitting in a federal plea deal that he “willfully and knowingly” entered the building with other rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Nicholas P. Hendrix, 35, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, according to a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in the District of Columbia.

The Class B misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison, up to five years of probation and up to $5,000 in fines. Hendrix remains free on bail pending sentencing later this year.

At sentencing, prosecutors will ask the court to dismiss additional charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He has agreed to pay $500 in restitution toward nearly $1.5 million in damage done to the Capitol building.

Hendrix is one of five men with Maine ties, and the fourth Maine resident, to face federal charges resulting from the riot. They are among the more than 400 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In a written statement to the court, Hendrix said he drove from Maine to Newton, Massachusetts, on Jan. 5, 2021, and got on a bus with others heading to a political rally in Washington, D.C.

He arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 6 and attended the rally at the Ellipse on the National Mall. He then joined others walking toward the Capitol building and up the steps to the Rotunda door.

Hendrix admitted that around 3:10 p.m., he “willfully and knowingly” entered the Capitol through the Rotunda door with other rioters, gaining access to a building that he knew “he did not have permission to enter.”

“(Hendrix) remained in the Rotunda for approximately 90 seconds before walking back out the Rotunda door,” according to the statement of offense. “(He) attempted to enter the Capitol a second time before he was stopped by (pepper spray).”

Hendrix eventually returned to a meeting point for the bus, which left around 6:30 p.m. for Massachusetts, then he drove back home to Gorham.

Video images and photographs included with court filings show Hendrix among hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol and engaged with law enforcement officers who were trying to protect members of Congress who had convened to certify the results of the presidential election. Several people died and about 150 police officers were injured in the attack.

According to an FBI agent’s criminal complaint, closed-circuit television footage shows Hendrix inside the Capitol for about 1 minute, 23 seconds, near the Rotunda door. Hendrix can be seen with a beard wearing a distinctive T-shirt, a cap with an American flag pattern and ski sunglasses.

Following Hendrix’s arrest last year, his attorney, David Beneman, said Hendrix is a father of five children who works as a pipe fitter. He’s also a veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and was in medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder.

Other men with ties to Maine charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection include: Kyle Fitzsimons, 37, of Lebanon; Glen Mitchell Simon, 30, a former Minot resident who moved to Georgia; Joshua Colgan, 35, of Jefferson and Todd Tilley, 61, of South Paris.

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