PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania man who was turned in by his ex-girlfriend after he called her a “moron” for not believing Democrats had stolen the 2020 presidential election was sentenced to nine months in federal prison Tuesday for participating in the Capitol riot.

Richard Michetti, 29, of Ridley Park, Pa. was arguing with his ex via text message on Jan. 6, 2021, as he pushed his way through police lines with an angry mob of Donald Trump supporters. He taunted and harassed officers, calling them “(expletive) animals” and accusing them of “starting a civil war.”

But he struck a much more conciliatory tone Tuesday as he stood before U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper at his sentencing hearing in Washington. Michetti, a union construction worker, apologized to police, his family and the “average Americans who were engaged and fearful by the events that occurred that day.”

“Even though I thought the vote was not fair,” he said, “it does not give anyone the right to act in such a way.”

Despite Michetti’s remorse, the punishment Cooper imposed Tuesday — which also included a $2,000 restitution order and a two-year term of probation upon release — was one of the stiffer sentences handed down so far against any of the 23 Pennsylvanians who have faced sentencing for participating in the insurrection.

Most others have thus far received probation or fewer than two months of incarceration after pleading guilty to misdemeanor crimes.