![Tandre Buchanan seen here using a metal stool to break a second window at Colossal Cupcakes on May 30, 2020. [ U.S. Attorney for Northern Ohio]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/db97cce/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1469x826+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2022%2F03%2F1088381783_865263900.jpg)
A 24-year-old Cleveland man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for breaking windows and entering Colossal Cupcakes during the May 30, 2020 protests in Downtown Cleveland.
Video footage captured Tandre Buchanan breaking a window at the Euclid Avenue cupcake shop, entering and then exiting again to break another window using a stool from inside the store.
Buchanan was convicted on two federal charges in December. One charge was interfering with interstate commerce by committing robbery. The other was tampering with evidence by disposing the clothing he wore while breaking the window.
The 48-month sentence is at the low end of sentencing guidelines of between 46 and 57 months recommended by the government. Buchanan’s attorney requested a sentence below the guidelines because his client had no criminal record, served in the military and has a young child.
A hearing is scheduled for May to determine how much Buchanan will pay in restitution to the shop’s owner.
There is no footage of Buchanan taking any of the items, like iPads, that were stolen from the store. But after he broke the window, several others can be seen entering the business. The store’s owner estimated costs from lost property, damage and the time it took to reopen at about $600,000.
Buchanan’s attorney disputed that amount, saying the only loss his client was directly responsible for were the broken windows. Prosecutors proposed restitution of about $250,000.
The case is the third federal conviction from Cleveland's May 30 protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Last year, 20-year-old Timothy Goodner pleaded guilty to attempted arson for trying to burn down a parking attendant’s booth across from the Justice Center. And in June, 26-year-old Michael Sloan pleaded guilty for starting a fire at Rebol, the restaurant on Public Square.
Federal prosecutors have also dropped charges against two Pennsylvania men who traveled to Cleveland allegedly to participate in the rioting.
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