IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Edgar Madison Welch, who fired shots in a Washington D.C. pizza restaurant in December, was sentenced to four years for federal and local crimes.
Welch, 29, was arrested for firing an AR-15 inside the D.C. restaurant Comet Ping Pong, as he investigated an unfounded conspiracy theory dubbed “Pizzagate” that the restaurant was involved in a child sex-trafficking ring connected to Hillary Clinton.
Welch “carried a loaded AR-15 assault rifle and a revolver into a Northwest Washington pizza restaurant, scattering employees and customers, and fired his assault rifle into a door,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. said in a statement announcing the sentence.
Welch received four years for a federal charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and two years for a District of Columbia charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, to be served concurrently. He was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release after pleading guilty to the charges in March.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson called “the extent of the recklessness” of the defendant’s actions “breathtaking” as she sentenced Welch Thursday.
Upon his release from prison, Welch will receive a mental health assessment and will be placed on supervised release for three years. He was further ordered to stay away from Comet Ping Pong.
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