CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago tech CEO who lost his job after being charged with various offenses related to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol has become the first Illinoisan to be found guilty for his part in the riot.
Bradley Rukstales, 53, of Inverness, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to willfully and knowingly parading, demonstrating and picketing inside the Capitol. The offense carries a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.
Rukstales was president and CEO of the Schaumburg-based tech company Cogensia. It placed him on leave the day he was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and a day later it fired him, saying his actions were inconsistent with the company’s core values.
Rukstales said in a written statement at the time that he followed others into the Capitol to see what was happening, and that he regretted his participation.
“Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place,” he wrote. “It was the single worst personal decision of my life; I have no excuse for my actions and wish that I could take them back.”
Prosecutor Susan Lehr described a chaotic scene in which Rukstales was among a group of rioters who confronted police in the Capitol’s crypt, a circular room beneath the rotunda. She said Rukstales tossed a chair toward officers, though they were in no danger of being struck by it.
When Rukstales refused commands to leave, she said, an officer brought him to the ground, dragged him behind a police line and arrested him.
Rukstales told Judge Carl Nichols that he wasn’t trying to hit anyone with the object.
“I was very careful when I threw the chair that no one was in striking distance,” he said.
Rukstales is among more than a dozen Illinoisans whom federal prosecutors have charged in the Capitol breach. More than 500 other people around the U.S. have also been charged.
Campaign finance records show Rukstales contributed thousands of dollars to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Nichols set Rukstales’ sentencing hearing for Nov. 12.
