A man who is a former Beverly Hills underwear model and actor, who accompanied an anti-vaxxer doctor at the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced earlier this week to two years, eight months in federal prison and given three years of probation for his role in the failed insurrection, according to The East Bay Times.

Last year a federal jury in Washington, D.C. found John Strand guilty of a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding, as well as lesser charges that included entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. Strand was also ordered Thursday, June 1, to pay a $10,000 fine, court records say.

As the pandemic raged, Strand — a former underwear model and actor — became a spokesman for the anti-vaccine group America’s Frontline Doctors. The organization was founded by Simone Gold, a doctor from Beverly Hills. Even though she’s a doctor, Gold became a leading source of coronavirus misinformation.

Strand and Gold were part of the mob of thousands of Trump supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol after former President Donald Trump’s speech. The riot that followed temporarily disrupted Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s presidential electoral victory.

And when the mob broke through the line of police officers protecting the Capitol, Strand and Gold were among those who entered the Capitol, making their way to the House Chamber, prosecutors say. There, the rioters were met with another line of officers.

As the pair made their way out of the Capitol, Gold stopped in Statuary Hall and speechified about stopping the certification of the vote. Then the two moved to the Rotunda, and Gold gave another speech criticizing COVID-19 lockdowns.

Gold wound up pleading guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and was previously sentenced to 60 days in jail and 12 months of supervised release afterward.

Strand, however, refused to plead guilty and accept an easy 90-day plea deal and went to trial in September. On the stand, he claimed that his only reason for entering the Capitol on January 6 was to provide security for Gold, who used a bullhorn to give a speech in the Rotunda while the police tried to clear the rioters out of the building. The jury quickly rejected Strand’s claim after seeing tons of video and photographic evidence and hearing testimony from police officers who were injured while trying to keep them away from members of Congress.

Unsure why you directed us to listen to John Strand's innocent narrative of entering the Capitol. We can see him and Dr Gold break into the Capitol in this video. Proof that Strand is a liar and deserving of his sentence. pic.twitter.com/QBzR9kcnjP

— Phil Schneider (@teamphil) June 2, 2023

Federal prosecutors also criticized Strand’s actions, including his attempts to raise funds for his legal defense despite already having a court-appointed attorney.

“On the Capitol steps, Strand took a series of selfies, made a vulgar gesture at the besieged police officers, and boasted on Twitter about having stormed the Capitol,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief. “Strand has since leveraged his crimes in extensive self-promotion which he seeks money for ‘legal services,’ even as taxpayers shoulder the actual burden of his criminal defense.”

Like a certain ex-president, Strand continues to deny any criminal liability. He’s taken to his website, where he describes going from “Gucci to guilty” and claims prosecutors have “destroyed my life for a lie.”

What would you do?

The DOJ lied, illegally hid exculpatory evidence, & falsely accused me—with 24 YEARS PRISON.

Then they offered a single misdemeanor plea…if I complied with their lie.

I refused. The truth matters.https://t.co/MlXjx59P2i 🇺🇸 #WeAreJ6pic.twitter.com/B9eopgDMJM

— 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍⚔️𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 (@JohnStrandUSA) March 25, 2023

I dunno. Seems like Strand’s done a pretty good job of destroying his own life. But Strand’s attorney is trying to tar Gold with much of the pair’s wrongdoing, saying she’s the one who “insisted on going inside the Capitol,” and adding that Strand “felt compelled” to follow Gold in order to protect her.

“Of the approximately 1,000 individuals who entered the United States Capitol on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, John Strand is, if culpable at all, certainly the least culpable of them all,” read the defense sentencing brief. “For unlike virtually every other person who entered the Capitol that day, his goal was not to cause violence, or even to voice displeasure at the results of the presidential election and its processes. And it was certainly not to obstruct the certification process, corruptly or otherwise.”

John Strand was guilty. He bragged about his actions: “WE STORMED THE capitol, it’s insane” and described it as "boisterous and fun." pic.twitter.com/hww5FS90AQ

— Phil Schneider (@teamphil) June 1, 2023

And Strand isn’t the only Southern Californian to be convicted for his role in the Capitol riot. At least a dozen people from Southern California have been convicted and more than two dozen locals have been charged in connection with the riot.

All I can say is that it’s nice to see justice being served here. Gold and Strand and the mob of Trump zealots created a real tragedy when they tried and failed to get their way. Strand is as culpable as the rest, and he’ll have a little time in prison to contemplate this.