Capitol Police officer sentenced after giving Jan. 6 rioter advice to evade arrest

April 13 (UPI) -- A former Capitol Police officer was sentenced to 120 days of home confinement on Thursday after he told a Jan. 6 rioter to take down social media posts about storming the Capitol.

Michael Riley also received two years of probation for telling a Virginia man named Jacob Hiles to take down posts about charging the building. He told Hiles that he was "a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance," and that he should "Take down the part about being in the building they are correctly investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to be charged. Just looking out!"

The two of them messaged for two weeks until Riley cut off contact.

Riley was found guilty of obstruction of justice in October after he was found to have deleted his messages with Hiles.

According to NBC News, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Thursday that it was "shocking conduct for any member of law enforcement."

She added that his testimony at trial lacked reflection over his actions.

"I don't know if you were lying or you've just come to believe the fake story you've been selling, but it wasn't credible," Jackson said, according to WUSA9.

However, Jackson said that she took into account medical issues that Riley had developed since his arrest and that he was not likely to repeat his crime.

Riley apologized in court and said that he had lost friends because of his actions.

"The burden is overwhelming," he said, adding that the actions of rioters on Jan. 6 have "no place in our society."