January 6th Trials: Sentences, Pardons, and Civil Lawsuits

More than 1,580 people were federally charged in the January 6 trials, with convictions and pardons together defining the outcome: over a thousand pleaded guilty, sentences ran from probation to 22 years, and on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump wiped nearly all of it away with blanket clemency. Fourteen of the most serious offenders had their sentences commuted; almost everyone else received a full pardon. The Justice Department has since moved to dismiss remaining cases, vacate high-profile convictions, and remove records of the prosecutions from its website.

How Many People Were Charged, Convicted, and Sentenced

Federal authorities arrested more than 1,575 people over four years on charges ranging from misdemeanor trespassing to seditious conspiracy. According to NPR’s tracking, 1,030 defendants entered guilty pleas, and about 64 percent of everyone sentenced received jail or prison time. The median sentence across all cases was 30 days. Among defendants who actually served time behind bars, the median was 210 days. Only two defendants were fully acquitted, both in bench trials before federal judges; no jury ever fully acquitted a January 6 defendant.¹²

The first acquittal, in April 2022, was that of Matthew Martin, whom Judge Trevor McFadden described as a “silent observer” who reasonably believed officers had allowed him into the building. In July 2023, Judge Amit Mehta acquitted James Beeks, finding “little evidence of any planning” and accepting that Beeks believed the Oath Keepers were a peacekeeping group.³⁴

The Longest Sentences and the Seditious Conspiracy Cases

The most serious prosecutions targeted leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys under the rarely invoked federal seditious conspiracy statute, which carries a 20-year maximum. Prosecutors argued both groups planned in advance to use force to prevent the transfer of presidential power.

Enrique Tarrio, former national chairman of the Proud Boys, received 22 years, the longest sentence given to any January 6 defendant. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years. Other convicted members included Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola.²⁵

The second-longest sentence, 20 years, went to David Dempsey, a California man who pleaded guilty to assaulting officers. Prosecutors said he pepper-sprayed a Washington detective, struck a sergeant with a metal crutch, swung pole-like weapons, hurled objects, and stomped on the heads of officers.⁶

The Fischer Ruling That Narrowed a Major Charge

On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court in Fischer v. United States narrowed 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), holding that the obstruction statute requires proof that a defendant impaired the availability or integrity of records, documents, or other things used in an official proceeding. The DOJ had used the statute far more broadly, charging at least 355 January 6 defendants under it.⁷

The practical fallout was smaller than the number suggested. More than 100 of those cases had already resolved through pleas to other counts or acquittals. About 52 defendants were significantly affected because obstruction was their only felony conviction. Of those, 25 had already served their sentences, leaving roughly 27 potentially eligible for reduced sentences. Legal analysts characterized the consequences as “modest” because most defendants faced additional felony charges the ruling did not touch.⁸

Trump’s Blanket Clemency on January 20, 2025

On his first day back in office, Trump issued a proclamation granting clemency to virtually every person charged or convicted in connection with the Capitol attack. Most received “full, complete and unconditional” pardons. Fourteen defendants convicted of the most serious offenses, including the seditious conspiracy leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, had their sentences commuted to time served. Tarrio received a separate pardon that same day. The proclamation directed the Attorney General to release all incarcerated defendants immediately and to move for dismissal with prejudice of every pending indictment.⁹

Trump said individually reviewing roughly 1,500 cases would have been “too cumbersome” and argued the existing sentences were excessive. The DOJ then moved to dismiss cases where defendants had not yet been sentenced.¹⁰

Where the Pardons Do Not Reach

The clemency did not cover every crime tied to a January 6 defendant. In an April 2025 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the pardon’s “plain terms” covered only crimes directly connected to the Capitol attack, not unrelated offenses discovered during the investigation. The majority rejected the DOJ’s argument that the pardon reached weapons charges found by “happenstance.”¹¹

A federal judge in Tennessee declined to extend the pardon to Edward Kelley’s conviction for conspiring to murder FBI agents who had investigated him. Kelley had compiled a list of agents and discussed bombing them at their homes. Judge Thomas Varlan ruled the plot was “physically, temporally, and otherwise unrelated” to events at the Capitol, and Kelley was sentenced to life in prison in July 2025.¹²¹³ The Ninth Circuit resisted DOJ efforts to drop Benjamin Martin’s illegal gun possession conviction, and the Fourth Circuit reviewed a similar question for Elias Costianes.¹¹

Erasing the Seditious Conspiracy Convictions

Commutation left the underlying convictions on the record. The administration moved to erase them. On April 14, 2026, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked the D.C. Circuit to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of 12 remaining defendants (eight Oath Keepers and four Proud Boys) and dismiss the indictments permanently, arguing dismissal was “in the interests of justice.” The court granted the motion on May 21, 2026, and the DOJ moved to formally dismiss the cases the next day.¹⁴¹⁵

In May 2026, the DOJ also began removing press releases documenting January 6 charges, convictions, and sentencings from its website, characterizing the removed content as “partisan propaganda.” American Oversight sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche warning that permanently erasing the records would violate the Federal Records Act.¹⁶¹⁷ Prosecutors who had handled the cases were separately removed from the department in a series of firings and demotions across 2025.¹⁸

The Federal Case Against Trump

The prosecution of Trump himself ran on a separate track and ended before trial. Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, secured a four-count indictment from a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on August 1, 2023: conspiring to defraud the United States, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiring to violate citizens’ right to have their votes counted. Smith did not charge Trump under the Insurrection Act, citing a lack of established case law, and did not pursue an incitement charge, citing a lack of direct evidence of subjective intent.¹⁹

After Trump won the 2024 election, Smith moved to dismiss the case on November 25, 2024, citing the longstanding DOJ position that the Constitution forbids federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president. His final report, submitted January 7, 2025, said the evidence was sufficient to convict Trump and his co-conspirators but that his office had been “not able to bring the cases we charged to trial” because of the defendant’s status.²⁰¹⁹

Civil Lawsuits Still Pending Against Trump

Civil suits filed by Capitol Police officers and Democratic members of Congress remain unresolved. The consolidated cases, including Blassingame v. Trump, Thompson v. Trump, and Swalwell v. Trump, allege Trump’s conduct incited the attack and rely on a federal civil rights law originally enacted to counter Ku Klux Klan intimidation of officials.²¹

In February 2022, Judge Amit Mehta denied Trump’s motion to dismiss, ruling it was “plausible” his words at the January 6 rally “were words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment.” After the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling on presidential immunity, the D.C. Circuit instructed Mehta to re-evaluate the cases. At a December 2025 hearing, Trump’s attorneys argued his actions fell within official presidential duties, while plaintiffs contended he acted as an “office seeker.” The DOJ has sought to defend Trump in the suits, and legal experts have said the cases may be delayed until after he leaves office.²²

The Anti-Weaponization Fund

On May 18, 2026, the DOJ announced a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to provide monetary relief and formal apologies to individuals who claimed to be victims of prosecutorial overreach. The fund was created as part of a settlement ending a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Trump, his eldest sons, and The Trump Organization against the IRS over leaked tax information, with the money drawn from the DOJ’s existing Judgment Fund. Acting Attorney General Blanche did not rule out that rioters convicted of violence against police officers could receive payouts.²³

Two days later, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, both injured defending the Capitol, sued to block the fund. They named Trump, Blanche, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as defendants and argued the fund violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s prohibition on paying debts incurred in aid of insurrection, lacked congressional authorization, and endangered their lives by financing people who had attacked them. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a separate suit calling the fund a “jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption,” and a fired January 6 prosecutor and an acquitted law professor sued as well, arguing the fund created a “politically discriminatory process.”²³¹⁶

What Pardoned Defendants Have Done Since

A June 2026 Lawfare study identified at least 97 people granted January 6 clemency who had since been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of unrelated crimes. Nineteen allegedly committed new offenses after their January 2025 clemency. At least 14 faced sex crime or child sexual abuse material charges, at least 41 were charged with violent crimes, 28 faced illegal firearms charges, and at least 20 were charged with driving under the influence.²⁴

Andrew Paul Johnson, freed by pardon in 2025, was convicted of child molestation in February 2026 and sentenced to life in prison. Ryan Nichols was charged with deadly conduct after allegedly threatening a person with a gun in a church parking lot. Christopher Moynihan was charged with a felony for threatening to murder House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.²⁵ Matthew Huttle was fatally shot by law enforcement in Indiana during a traffic stop less than a week after his pardon.¹⁰

Stewart Rhodes walked out of prison on January 21, 2025, and visited Capitol Hill the next day in a Trump campaign hat, telling reporters he was pushing for another defendant’s release and for a full pardon of his own. By November 2025, he publicly announced he was “relaunching” and “rebuilding” the Oath Keepers.²⁶²⁷²⁴

1
NPR. Jan. 6 Archive
2
PBS NewsHour. Heres Where Jan. 6 Trials Stand on the Fourth Anniversary of the Capitol Riot
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NPR. Jan. 6 Riot Acquittal
4
Courthouse News Service. In Rare Move, Federal Judge Acquits Jan. 6 Defendant
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CNN. Justice Department Moves to Vacate Seditious Conspiracy Convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers
6
NBC News. DOJ Wants 21 Years for Trump Supporter Who Viciously Assaulted Officers on Jan. 6
7
Supreme Court of the United States. Fischer v. United States
8
Lawfare. The Courts Fischer Ruling Is a Symbolic Setback for the Justice Department but One With Modest Consequences
9
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NBC News. Trumps Jan. 6 Pardon Doesnt Cover Rioters Plot to Kill FBI Agents, Judge Rules
13
Tennessee Bar Association. Edward Kelley Sentenced to Life in Prison
14
NPR. Justice Department Moves to Toss Seditious Conspiracy Convictions
15
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16
NBC News. Justice Department Deletes Press Releases on Charges Against Jan. 6 Rioters
17
American Oversight. DOJ FRA Jan. 6 Warning Letter
18
PBS NewsHour. DOJ Abruptly Fires 3 Prosecutors Involved in Jan. 6 Criminal Cases
19
First Amendment Encyclopedia. Jack Smiths Final Report on Trump Investigations
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U.S. Department of Justice. Report of Special Counsel Smith, Volume 1
21
PBS NewsHour. Judge Rejects Effort by Donald Trump to Toss Jan. 6 Lawsuits
22
Roll Call. Lawmakers, Capitol Police Still Pursuing Trump in Jan. 6 Lawsuits
23
CNBC. Trump Fund Lawsuit Capitol Riot IRS
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Lawfare. The Jan. 6 Pardons: How Many Clemency Recipients Have Faced Other Charges
25
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. At Least 33 Pardoned Insurrectionists Face Other Criminal Charges
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MSNBC. Stewart Rhodes Says Hes Rebuilding Oath Keepers
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NBC Miami. Ex-Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Returns to Miami After Trump Pardon