A federal judge on Friday agreed to toss the convictions of four Proud Boys who attacked the Capitol in 2021, fulfilling a Justice Department request to clear some of the last remaining cases in the wake of President Donald Trump’s mass pardons of Jan. 6 rioters.
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U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly granted the motion to dismiss the convictions against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola with prejudice, meaning the case is permanently closed.
Kelly, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, wrote that while the federal government can request that a case be vacated, he did not approve of the administration’s move here.
“Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution—even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6—are solely the Executive’s, no one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions,” he wrote.
Kelly indicated that he could not sustain the case once the Justice Department declined to maintain its prosecution of the defendants.
“Indeed, it is hard to see how any course other than granting the motion in full could make practical sense,” he wrote. “Denying the motion would not somehow revive the convictions that the Court of Appeals vacated. Nor would denying it mean a retrial would follow, because the Court lacks the authority to compel the Executive to pursue a prosecution, full stop.”
On his first day back in office last year, Trump issued approximately 1,500 full pardons to people convicted in connection with the attack on the Capitol, while granting commutations to 14 others. Those 14 sentences were reduced to time served but were not dismissed outright by the courts.
Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola were among the 14 whose sentences were commuted by Trump. The four men were all convicted in 2023 of numerous felony charges, and all but Pezzola were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The Justice Department in April requested to dismiss the case, saying it would end “these years-long, Biden-era weaponized prosecutions.”
Kelly wrote that there is “little mystery” to why the Justice Department sought to vacate the convictions.
“President Trump’s views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6—whether those views are based on fact or fiction—are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them through the Executive Order,” Kelly wrote. “The Government’s request to dismiss this case is consistent with that general approach.”
Rehl, who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 2023, celebrated the ruling Friday in a post on X, writing “Finally, it’s ALL OVER!
“January 6th can now be a thing of the past for me!” he added.
Pezzola, who was seen on video smashing a window at the Capitol, received the shortest sentence of the group at 10 years in federal prison.
Nordean was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison and was described by prosecutors as having “played a central role in unleashing the violence and destruction at the U.S. Capitol.” Prosecutors said Biggs, who was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, was serving “as an instigator and leader” during the attack.
Enrique Tarrio, who was on trial alongside the four men, congratulated them after Friday’s ruling.
“The seditious conspiracy hoax and the whole rigged indictment against me, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zach Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola has been VACATED!!!” Tarrio wrote in a post on X. “Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED!”
Tarrio later posted a photo of himself posing with Trump that was captioned, “LOVE YA BOSS MAN!”
Tarrio was granted clemency by Trump last year after being sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in 2023 for seditious conspiracy and other charges.
Trump this year touted the establishment of an “anti-weaponization fund” designed to pay people who were “unfairly targeted by prosecutors and deserved compensation.”
The president did not rule out compensation for Jan. 6 rioters, drawing sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle. Last month, a federal judge indefinitely blocked the fund from becoming active.
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