Erie man charged with having Molotov cocktails during 2020 rioting in Erie sentenced

An Erie man who admitted to having Molotov cocktails in downtown Erie and whom authorities accused of attempting to light and throw the incendiary devices as rioting broke out in the area was sentenced in federal court on Monday to serve more than three years in prison.

Tyvarh Nicholson, 30, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge David Cercone in federal court in Erie to serve three years and four months in prison, followed by three years of supervision, on Nicholson's guilty plea in August to a felony count of possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device, referring to the Molotov cocktails. He faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the charge.

Cercone sentenced Nicholson below sentencing guidelines, which he said were between five years, 10 months and seven years, three months, noting arguments made by Nicholson's lawyer, Neil Rothschild, that Nicholson's criminal history was "over-represented." His prior record included a conviction in a drug case.

Nicholson was one of more than two-dozen people charged by Erie police with criminal offenses including arson, aggravated assault, rioting and disorderly conduct stemming from riots that broke out downtown on the late evening of May 30, 2020, following what was described as an earlier protest in Perry Square.

Authorities said rioters vandalized several downtown businesses and Erie City Hall and threw items including bricks, frozen water bottles and fireworks at state and local police officers who were on scene.

The earlier protest was held over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

Erie police initially charged Nicholson and another man with offenses including felony counts of assault of a law enforcement officer and riot. Investigators accused the other man of repeatedly throwing objects at officers and accused Nicholson of attempting to light and throw a Molotov cocktail, according to information in their criminal complaints.

Police charged that the two men then tried to flee the area in a vehicle after officers approached them. The vehicle was stopped a short distance away and Nicholson was found with a bottle at his feet, investigators wrote in his criminal complaint.

The indictment

The case against Nicholson went federal when, in September 2020, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device. Authorities charged in the indictment that Nicholson threw objects and projectiles at Erie police officers and possessed "destructive devices that were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record."

Erie man indicted in rioting: Erie man indicted in downtown rioting

The U.S. Attorney's Office dropped the obstruction charge, which would have carried a sentence of up to five years in federal prison, according to court records, when Nicholson pleaded guilty to the possession charge in August.

The Molotov cocktails, made of plastic water bottles filled with gasoline, did not explode during the rioting, according to information presented in court at his plea hearing.

Authorities said surveillance video from security cameras in downtown Erie showed Nicholson filling two water bottles with gasoline at a gas station on the night of May 30, 2020, and later lighting wicks in the bottles. The evidence showed that Nicholson threw the Molotov cocktails at a line of police officers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Trabold said during the plea hearing.

Erie man pleads in federal case: 1 of 2 federal defendants in Erie riot cases pleads guilty to having Molotov cocktails

Nicholson's court-appointed lawyer, Neil Rothschild, of Oil City, said at the hearing that Nicholson did not throw the bottles at the police or intend to hurt the police.

Nicholson confessed to the FBI in late August 2020 that he had the Molotov cocktails, Trabold said during the August hearing.

Second federal case

Nicholson was one of two people charged federally from the May 30, 2020, riots.

Also indicted was Melquan Barnett, 29, whom authorities accuse of attempting to set a downtown coffee shop, Ember + Forge, by setting a fire inside of the building at Fourth and State streets during the civil unrest.

The building was not heavily damaged, but authorities charged that apartments above the coffee shop were occupied at the time.

Barnett, who is Black, attempted to have his case thrown out because of "selective prosecution" based partly on his race. He argued that he was protesting the death of Floyd and was thus engaged in free speech during the civil unrest, and said his race unfairly contributed to the decision to try him in U.S. District Court rather than in county court, where potential penalties would be less severe.

Erie man claims bias in fed case: Melquan Barnett, facing federal arson charge in Erie riot, claims politics, discrimination

U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ruled against Barnett's contentions in a 21-page opinion issued on Nov. 19, finding that the U.S. Attorney's Office has broad discretion in prosecuting crimes and that Barnett presented no evidence that the decision to prosecute him in federal court was biased.

Judge tosses bias claim in Erie case: Federal judge tosses Black defendant's bias claim in Erie riot case over fire at Ember + Forge

The case against Barnett is awaiting trial.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie crimes: Tyvarh Nicholson who had Molotov cocktails at downtown riot, sentenced