A mother and son from New York have been charged with theft in connection to aiding the disappearance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop on Jan. 6.
According to Fox 5, the FBI arrested Maryann Mooney-Rondon, 55, and Rafael Rondon, 23, of Watertown, New York, on Friday in connection to Pelosi's missing laptop. Both family members are facing additional charges related to their attendance at the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
Rafael Rondon also reportedly is facing the charge of possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun at his residence.
"Both appeared in federal court Friday in Syracuse, New York, and released pending further proceedings, according to a statement from the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York," wrote Fox 5.
An FBI tip reportedly led authorities to the duo, with court documents stating that Mooney-Rondon allegedly admitted to being in the Capitol on Jan. 6, and to being in Pelosi's conference room.
She reportedly provided a man with gloves or a scarf to aid in grabbing Pelosi's laptop without leaving fingerprints.
"He asked, he said, give me – I don't know if it was gloves or a scarf I was wearing – and like I said he scared me," court documents quotes her as saying.
Rafael Rondon also noted that an ethernet cable was connected to the laptop.
"If I recall, the guy was going to yank it out. I'm like, dude, don't do that, I mean that's, I mean just the computer, you can't pull the cables out, it'll ruin everything," Mooney-Rondon said, according to the document.
She claims she saw the man place the laptop in his backpack.
Her son reportedly said that he thinks he might have pushed the computer "in his bag a little bit using a glove cause he didn't want to get his fingerprints on it."
"So I assisted him a little bit, and that was probably stupid of me," he reportedly said in the court document.
"Rafael Rondon told officers that he and mother took the metro into Washington on Jan. 6 'because I'm not taking my car into the city which, the Capitol building I'm about to break into,'" wrote Fox 5.
The pair admitted that they were the ones seen in the photos taken at the Capitol during the riots and distributed by the FBI.
The arrest comes months after the FBI raided a spa in Alaska after the FBI claimed that Marilyn Hueper, owner of the Homer Inn and Spa, was the one depicted in photographs taken that day.
Paul and Marilyn Hueper were in Washington that day for former President Donald Trump's rally, and said that they did not take part in the riots that occurred that day. Photos of the two women showed similar hairstyles and similar black coats worn on that day between the two women.
FBI agents told Hueper when they arrived at her resort that they were looking for Pelosi's laptop. "That still doesn't explain why you're in my home. Or in Homer, Alaska," Hueper told agents, she later recalled to the Associated Press.
All laptops and cell phones were confiscated from the property, and the Huepers, as well as two guests staying there at the time, were placed in handcuffs while the search was carried out. Marilyn also noted that a warrant wasn't displayed, and the agents badges were not shown long enough for her to tell that they were actual FBI agents. A warrant was later shown.
"In the FBI statement filed in the case of the New York residents, it notes that a search warrant was obtained for the Alaska residence 'based in part on evidence showing that residents (a married couple) trespassed on the ground of the U.S. Capitol.' It also says two people in Homer identified Marilyn Hueper as being the person seen in photos taken inside the Capitol during the riot," wrote Fox 5.
That document states that the FBI now says "there is probable cause" to believe the New York mother and son are the two people shown in the photographs, in addition to their alleged admissions to being there and other evidence.
"I feel like a cloud has lifted for sure," Hueper said in a text message to the Associated Press. However, she remains concerned about the freedom that the FBI have "to run amuck over peaceable people, and are without concern for how their poor investigative skills and super aggressive tactics are causing harm while they're on their 'noble cause' quests."
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