Inset: Zachary Alam (Henrico County Regional Jail West). Background: Alam during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot (U.S. Attorney”s Office).
Zachary Alam, previously convicted for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot, has once again found himself in legal trouble, this time for breaking into a family’s home in Virginia. Authorities report that he spent as long as 15 minutes ransacking the house.
This week, Alam, aged 34, received a seven-year prison sentence following his conviction last fall for breaking and entering an occupied dwelling and grand larceny, according to regional ABC affiliate WRIC. The court decided to suspend the bulk of his sentence, totaling an additional 33 years, as ruled by a judge in Henrico County.
The incident occurred on May 8, 2025, around 11 p.m., when Alam allegedly entered a residence in Henrico County through the back door. Once inside, he rummaged through various rooms, taking personal belongings, as reported by Henrico County police to Law&Crime. His intrusion, lasting approximately 10 to 15 minutes, ended when the family confronted him.
Alam reportedly offered excuses for his presence before leaving the scene. The family then contacted law enforcement, leading officers to track him down to a nearby neighborhood, where he was subsequently apprehended.
During Alam’s sentencing, prosecutors highlighted the “trauma” experienced by the family and the “loss of some of their possessions,” according to the local news outlet.
Notably, Alam was already familiar to federal law enforcement officials due to his previous offenses.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Alam “was among a mob of rioters illegally gathered on the west lawn of Capitol grounds,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. He made it into the Capitol building and led the “mob” seeking to push through U.S. Capitol Police officers.
“I’m going to f— you up,” he yelled multiple times in the faces of officers as he broke glass and added that he and his fellow rioters “need guns,” federal authorities added.
Alam was arrested on Jan. 30, 2021, in Denver, Pennsylvania. On Sept. 12, 2023, he was convicted by a Washington, D.C., jury of eight felonies, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; and destruction of government property.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
However, on the first day of Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025, the president pardoned Alam and 1,500 other Jan. 6 defendants.
