HELENA – Two Montana brothers who prosecutors say were among the first people to break into the U.S. Capitol in January while the Electoral College vote was being certified were ordered released from custody Wednesday pending trial.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly said Joshua Calvin Hughes and Jerod Wade Hughes could be released on their own recognizance in the High Intensity Supervision Program. A status conference is set for June 8, court records said.
Jerod Hughes pleaded not guilty on March 26, and Joshua Hughes pleaded not guilty Wednesday during a video hearing. Both face nine federal charges, including including civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering a restricted building and entering the Senate floor.
Prosecutors say the brothers, who live in East Helena, were among the first 10 people to enter the Capitol through a broken window on Jan. 6 and that Jerod Hughes helped kick open a door to let other rioters in.
The brothers directly followed a man who pursued Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up the stairs and later found their way to the Senate floor, prosecutors said.
In his petition for pretrial release, Jerod Hughes’ attorney wrote that Hughes and his brother traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest what he believed was a “stolen election,” and that “he acted out of conscience, albeit one that was manipulated by deception.”