Written by Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday issued a sweeping clemency order, granting clemency to all more than 1,500 defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and handing down sentences to 14 others.
Below are some of the most prominent defendants who received pardons or reduced sentences.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio
Tarrio, the former head of the far-right Proud Boys organization, received a full pardon from Trump.
Tarrio was convicted of crimes including seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the Capitol riot that sought to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's defeat of Trump in the 2020 election.
He was ordered to serve 22 years in prison, the longest sentence of any defendant, on January 6.
Unlike his co-defendants in the trial, Tarrio was not present in Washington, D.C., on the day of the attack on the Capitol.
Joseph Biggs, Zachary Riehl, Ethan Nordean, and Dominic Pezzola
Biggs, Rehl, and Nordean all played leadership roles in the Proud Boys and were tried alongside Tarrio for seditious conspiracy and other crimes.
All three received some of the longest prison sentences ever handed down to defendants on Jan. 6: Nordean 18 years, Biggs 17 years, and Rehl 15 years.
Pezzola, who was accused of assaulting former Capitol Police Officer Mark O'Dea by stealing his riot shield and using it to smash a window at the Capitol, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was the only defendant in the trial who did not hold a leadership position in the Proud Boys.
Trump commuted their sentences.
Elmer Stewart Rhodes
Rhodes is the founder of the militant group Oath Keepers. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Rhodes did not enter the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but was indicted on charges that he planned to use force against Congress to prevent the certification of the election. He was also accused of helping to store firearms at a hotel in neighboring Virginia that could be transported across the river to Washington.
Rhodes did not express any remorse for his sentence and vowed to “expose the criminality of this regime” from his prison cell. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Trump commuted his sentence.
Kelly Meggs
Meggs was the leader of the Oath Keepers chapter from Florida and was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes. His wife, Connie, was also charged and later convicted in a separate trial for her role in the Capitol attack.
On Monday, Trump commuted Kelly Meggs' sentence to 12 years. His wife, like most of the others charged on January 6, received a pardon.
Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell
Oath Keepers associates Harrelson, Watkins, and Caldwell went to trial alongside Rhodes and Kelly Meggs on felony charges of seditious conspiracy.
The jury acquitted them of that charge, but convicted them of a number of other crimes. Trump commuted the sentences of the three on Monday.
Watkins, a transgender woman who spoke openly during the trial about the difficulties she faced with her identity while serving in the military, was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison, while Harrelson received four years.
Caldwell, who was not an official member of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced earlier this month to prison on one count of tampering with evidence.
His conviction for obstruction of an official proceeding was previously overturned after a US Supreme Court ruling narrowed the way the law could be used to charge defendants.
Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, Joseph Hackett, and David Morschel
Minuta, Vallejo, Hackett, and Morschel were a group of Oath Keepers who were tried and convicted in a different trial than Rhodes for seditious conspiracy.
Hackett was sentenced to 42 months in prison, while Morchel was sentenced to three years. Meanwhile, Minuta was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and Vallejo to three years.
Trump commuted their sentences.
