Longtime Virginia Beach charter boat captain pleads guilty to his role in the U.S. Capitol riots
A longtime Virginia Beach charter boat captain pleaded guilty Thursday to taking part in the U.S. Capitol riots earlier this year.
Jacob “Jake” Hiles, 42, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington to a single misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He’ll be sentenced later this year.
“Mr. Hiles wanted to accept responsibility and put this behind him,” said his attorney, Washington lawyer Charles Haskell. The defense attorney declined to comment further.
Hiles entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who presided over the trials of Trump loyalists Paul Manafort and Roger Stone.
On the day of the riot, Hiles posted multiple times on social media about his role.
One post included a photo of a man identified as Hiles wearing a cap, sunglasses, and gaiter with the caption: “Feelin cute … might start a revolution later, IDK – in Capitol Hill.” Another screenshot showed a man — also reported to be Hiles — wearing goggles and a gaiter inside the Capitol.
Hiles was charged less than two weeks later with four misdemeanor counts. He turned himself in to the FBI office in Chesapeake and was allowed to remain free on bond while he awaited trial.
Hiles has been the owner and operator of Matador Fishing Charters in Virginia Beach for more than 20 years, and is the winner of multiple sport fishing trophies.
In 2020, he caught a record 708-pound bluefin tuna. Later that year, he told WAVY-TV 10 he no longer allowed Democrats on his boat if they planned to talk politics.
In 2009, his parents, Karen and James Hiles, were sentenced to federal prison for embezzling more than $2 million from a real estate developer who employed Karen. She received seven years and 11 months; James Hiles two years and six months. Both were also ordered to pay back the full amount of stolen money.
Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
