A federal appeals court has vacated part of the conviction of a Clinton County man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol in Washington.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Monday granted the joint motion of the government and defense in the case of Brian Gundersen, 30, of Lock Haven.

The obstructing an official proceeding charge was vacated but not the count of assault or impeding officers.

The official proceeding was Congress meeting as the Electoral College to certify the results of the 2020 presidential vote.

Gundersen had been sentenced to concurrent 18-month terms followed by three years of supervised release but he has been free pending his appeal.

The basis of the joint motion to vacate the obstruction count was a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in June that proof must include that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents.

The decision was on the appeal of former North Cornwall Twp., Lebanon County, police officer Joseph Fischer.

A judge in April released Gundersen from prison noting he had served six months and that if the obstruction conviction was vacated, his sentence on the remaining count would be recalculated possibly to less time than he had served.

Gundersen was found guilty in a non-jury, stipulated facts trial in November 2022.

He claimed his conduct in the assault charge consisted of jumping into a riot shield.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Juman in a brief filed last December opposing Gundersen’s release pending appeal wrote:

“He shouted at police officers and entered the Capitol twice. After leaving the Capitol, he remained in the mob of rioters, trying to re-enter the building.

“His violent conduct incited and emboldened other violent rioters around him.

“After the riot, rather than feeling remorse, Gundersen was proud of his actions.

“He justified his ‘resort to violence’ and called himself and the other rioters ‘heroes’ and ‘patriots’ who tried to ‘take over the government’ by ‘bum rushing the Capitol building.'”

The appeals court decision remanded Gundersen’s case to the District of Columbia federal court for further proceedings.

Gundersen, a former high school football player in New York State, was living in State College when the Capitol riot occurred.