Former Bob’s Burgers actor Jay Johnston was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role on the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Johnston, who voiced Jimmy Pesto on Bob’s Burgers, previously pleaded guilty to a felony count of interfering with law enforcement during civil disorder in July 2024.
Prior to being sentenced, Johnston told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that his participation in the attack was a “horrible oversight.” Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee, described Johnston’s conduct as “problematic — reprehensible, really” and said that his statement failed to show remorse.
The 56-year-old actor was initially arrested in June 2023 after the FBI tweeted a photo requesting information about his identity. He is alleged to have led a group to the “front line of rioters confronting the police who were defending the entrance” to the Capitol, helping to launch an assault against a group of officers.
Related Video
“During that time, he: (1) helped at least four other rioters wash their eyes out after being sprayed with OC spray; (2) used a stolen United States Capitol Police riot shield to make a ‘shield wall’ against the police inside the tunnel; and (3) participated in ‘heave-ho’ push that pinned and crushed MPD Officer Daniel Hodges against a door frame,” federal prosecutors alleged.
After internet sleuths identified Johnston in FBI footage, he was fired from his Bob’s Burgers role as Jimmy Pesto Sr. in December 2021. Previously, he was a writer and actor on Mr. Show and portrayed Officer Taylor in Arrested Development.
