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A Manhattan pickup artist facing federal charges over the US Capitol riot was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Monday for hoarding weapons in an Upper East Side apartment.
Samuel Fisher, 33, apologized to the court and to his family before Acting Justice Robert Mandelbaum handed down the punishment on the state charges.
“I know what I did was wrong and I accept that my actions have consequences,” said Fisher, who was cuffed and taken into custody immediately after the hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Fisher, who according to reports once ran a coaching service aimed at helping men get dates, also stands accused of attending the Jan. 6 riot in Washington DC with a small arsenal.
Agents with NYC’s Joint Terrorism Task Force busted him two weeks after the riot outside of a building on East 90th Street between First and York avenues.
Officers discovered an AR-15 style rifle and ammunition stashed inside a guitar case inside the apartment.
But that was just a sliver of Fisher’s weapons cache. Authorities also found a “ghost gun” pistol, a shotgun, 11 pre-loaded high-capacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and two machetes and a knife inside the unit and a car parked nearby.
Fisher posted photos on social media of himself with the guns under the name “Brad Holiday,” which was also his dating coach persona. One image on Facebook, showing him posing with three weapons in front of a Trump flag, was captioned: “Can’t wait to bring a liberal back to this freedom palace,” court documents state.
Fisher also used the Brad Holiday accounts to claim the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and to spew QAnon conspiracy theories.
“We The People, are facing off against Communists or Satanists that have blackmailed, bribed and influenced almost every member of our Government, Media, Educations system, etc.,” he ranted in a blog post on his website, www.bradholiday.com.
In the post, titled “January 6, 2021 Will Be the Most Historically Important Day of Our Lives,” Fisher stressed the need to “stand up to the evils of this Government… and remove them physically.”
He wrote to a friend on Facebook the day after the riot that “I was there… it was awesome. It was dangerous and violent,” court docs state.
“People died . . . but it was f—ing great if you ask me . . . i got tear gassed and pepper sprayed,” the messages said. “Seeing cops literally run . . . was the coolest thing ive ever seen in my life.”
He then advised his pal to “get ready,” “get in shape” and find someone with medical and combat experience. Prosecutors said this was a sign Fisher anticipated “another violent confrontation.”
Fisher had faced 17 counts related to the weapons stockpile. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon Monday. Fisher still faces separate federal charges tied to his alleged involvement in the riot, for which he has pleaded not guilty.
At his sentencing on Monday, defense attorney Wayne Gosnell said Fisher was in the midst of a mental health crisis and alcohol addiction at the time of his arrest — but that he had since turned his life around.
“Sam is a good person who did a bad thing,” Gosnell said.
He asked the court to take into account his client’s “potential and desire to better himself” and the steps he’s already taken, including attending narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings daily and getting a job and mental health treatment.
Gosnell asked for a three-and-a-half-year prison term, instead of the maximum four-year sentence prosecutors had sought.
The judge said he hoped Fisher had learned his lesson but noted: “The fact remains he chose to arm himself to the teeth.”
That he didn’t act on the threats, “does not take away from the seriousness of his offense,” Mandelbaum said, before sentencing Fisher to 3 1/2 years behind bars, followed by the same amount of time in post-release supervision.
Fisher’s mother, who was in court for the hearing — along with his father, brother and several friends — leaned over and wept into her hands after the sentence was handed down.
“All he has is love for his family and for the country and for everyone,” one of Fisher’s supporters told reporters while sobbing.
“He just believes in the Constitution,” claimed the man, who said that Fisher used to babysit his children.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the sentence “makes clear that we will hold accountable those who possess illegal firearms and high-capacity magazines in our city.”
“Samuel Fisher is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who participated in one of the gravest attacks on our democracy,” Bragg said in a statement.
Federal prosecutors have also offered Fisher a plea deal, his attorneys wrote in a filing this week. Any sentence, in that case, would run concurrently to the one in the state case.
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