(WNY News Now) – WASHINGTON – Two Florida men are charged in an indictment unsealed today in federal court for the District of Columbia with multiple felonies and misdemeanors related to their conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Tom Vournas, 62, of Bradenton, Florida, and Leonard Lobianco, 52, of North Port, Florida, are named in the indictment and were arrested on Jan. 4, 2024, in Florida by the FBI. The men will make their initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida.
Vournas is charged with felony offenses of civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or ground with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Vournas is also charged with misdemeanor offenses of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
Lobianco is charged with civil disorder, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
According to the indictment, on Jan. 6, 2021, the men committed and attempted to commit an act aimed at impeding law enforcement officers from performing their official duties during a civil disorder event. In addition, defendant Vournas is alleged to have used a chemical irritant to assault law enforcement officers on the Capitol grounds and allegedly brought the weapon inside the Capitol building.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Tampa and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the 35 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,230 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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