A Former State College of Commerce Jan. 6, 2021 His wife faces years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to assaulting two police officers during the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Julianne E. Cater, 33, pleaded guilty to pepper-spraying U.S. Capitol Police officers Brian Cicnik and Carolyn Edwards during a plea deal hearing in Washington, D.C. The former owner of Fruita Bowls in downtown State College, who now lives in New Jersey, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting officers with a deadly weapon.
Sentencing guidelines call for six and a half to eight years in prison, according to the plea agreement. The two charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Prosecutor Chatter traveled to Washington, D.C., on January 6 and brought two cans of bear spray and two cans of pepper along with George P. Tanios, 42, of West Virginia. The two men joined a group of Trump supporters who attended a rally where former President Donald Trump spoke and went to the Capitol to block Congress from declaring Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
Khatter tells Tanios, “Give me that bear sh–” and reaches into Tanios’ backpack, saying that he just sprayed it. As other rioters began to forcefully remove the bike rack barriers, Cather sprayed the can in Siknik’s face, turned his head and had to retreat.
The prosecutor said that Cather was pepper-spraying the bear, not the bear. Siknik died of natural causes the next day after suffering a stroke. Khatter and Tanios have not been charged in connection with his death.
After spraying Syknik, Khatter walked up to Edwards and sprayed her in the face a few feet away.
Edwards They testified. In June, he described the day’s events to the House’s January 6 Committee as “riots” and “massacres.”
She also recalled the attack on Siknik.
“Suddenly I see movement to my left,” she said. “I turned around, and the officer was Cynic with his head in his hands and he was pale in spirit, I thought at the time that he was sprayed and I was concerned. My police alarm went off. Because if you’re pepper-sprayed, you’re going to turn red. As pale as this paper.”
Khater and Tanios were arrested in March 2021 He pleaded guilty He is expected to be sentenced in July for two counts and up to six months in prison.
Tanios’ sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6. Khatters is scheduled for trial on December 13.
Khatter opened in March 2019 at 262 E. Beaver Ave. and co-owned the Frutta Bowls franchise location that opened. Closed in 2020.. It previously had another Fruita Balls franchise location in North Carolina.
More than 860 people were arrested statewide for crimes related to Jan. 6, with more than 260 charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.
