Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to the White House under President Donald Trump, was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with the committee investigating the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.

Bannon's sentence came a year after the day the House of Representatives voted to charge him with contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from a special House committee for documents and testimony.

The ministry said that Bannon "followed a naive bad strategy of defiance and contempt."

Bannon also faced a $6,500 fine, a federal prison sentence of up to two years. Each charge carries a penalty of no less than 30 days in jail.

Federal Judge Carl Nichols, appointed by Trump, kept the sentence pending Bannon's appeal, meaning the 68-year-old will not spend much time behind bars.

On his way to court, Bannon criticized what he called "the illegitimate regime that will come after Trump's rule" within two weeks when the U.S. midterm elections take place.

On January 6, 2021, protesters supporting Donald Trump entered the U.S. Capitol building to delay the certification of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden.

Editing: Yusra Bamtarf