A former La Habra police chief named Alan Hostetter has been sentenced to 135 months (over 11 years) in prison for his role in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. That is one of the harshest sentences handed down since the Jan. 6 trials began.
Hostetter led the La Habra police department briefly from 2009 to to 2010. He had previously served as assistant police chief in Fontana.
Hostetter was convicted in July on four felony counts of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Prosecutors said he brought multiple weapons to the storming of the Capitol, from hatchets and knives to batons and pepper spray. Once inside the building, he posted a picture of himself on social media, calling it “a war.”
At sentencing, Hostetter showed little remorse. He maintains that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. He has endorsed GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s baseless claim that January 6 was an “inside job.”
Whether Hostetter will remain behind bars depends on the outcome of the 2024 election. Donald Trump has signaled he would pardon January 6th insurrectionists if he is elected president again next year.