Former Olympic swimmer Klete Keller pleads guilty in January 6th case

Former Olympic swimmer Klete Keller admitted he was at the Capitol riot in a deal with federal authorities with the expectation that prosecutors would drop other charges and lighten the sentence.

The two-time Olympic gold medal winning athlete pleaded guilty to count two (obstruction of an official proceeding) out of the seven charges in the indictment he faced.

In the so-called "cooperation agreement," Keller agreed to cooperate with government officials. In exchange, the prosecutors will drop the six other charges against Keller. In February, a grand jury indicted Keller with civil disorder and disorderly conduct related offenses.

The crime Keller pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. However, the sentence guidelines for this in particular set a low bar with him serving anywhere from 21 to 27 months in prison. Keller sees little chance of an early parole.

Keller was apprehended by authorities within a week of the January 6th riot at the Capitol. He was easy to identify due to his height at six feet, six inches tall. Keller was also spotted wearing his Team USA jacket, leading to sports website swimswam.com to identify him in the mob.

By January 14th, federal investigators were searching Keller’s home in Colorado. He was arrested the same day.

According to The Washington Post, Keller shouted obscenities about Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, and resisted Capitol police officers who tried to remove him and others.

Keller’s former coach Jon Urbanchek previously told the Los Angeles Times that "He tells everybody that he’s very sorry and he wants to turn it around."

There’s no sentencing hearing date yet, but presiding Judge Richard J. Leon scheduled a status conference for December 16th.

Klete Keller was in the 2000, 2004, and the 2008 Olympics. The freestyle swimmer ended his career on the high note of being on the same team as Michael Phelps. After leaving the sport he got a job in real estate.