42 Jan. 6 Defendants From GA Pardoned In Trump’s First Official Act

GEORGIA — In the first in a blizzard of executive actions after arriving at the White House Monday, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including 42 from Georgia.

Trump also commuted the sentences of another 14 people, including leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. These were charged with some of the most serious and high-profile cases.

The decision amounted to a sweeping cloak of impunity for Trump supporters who upended the country’s tradition of peaceful transfers of power by trying to overturn his election defeat four years ago. Trump described them as “hostages” and said he expected them to be freed shortly.

People convicted in Georgia include:

1. Jorge Jose Fournier, of Grovetown, charged on suspicion of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon; entering and remaining in any restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, sentencing not available
2. William Frederick Beals, II, of Ringgold, pleaded guilty to two charges: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Sentenced on Sept. 10, 2024 to 36 months of probation, 90 days location monitoring, special assessment of $50, restitution of $500 and 75 hours of community service.
3. Zachariah Boulton, location unknown, pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Sentenced on Feb. 6, 2024 to 24 months of probation, special assessment of $25, fine of $500, restitution of $500 and 50 hours of community service.
4. Dominic Box, of Savannah, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Obstruction charge dismissed on Oct. 11, 2024. Found guilty of all remaining charges on Oct. 28, 2024. Sentencing was set for Feb. 21.
5. Michael Bradley, of Forsyth, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Found guilty on all charges in a bench trial on Aug. 29, 2024. Sentenced on Dec. 17, 2024 to 60 months incarceration, supervised release for three years and restitution of $2,000.
6. William McCall Calhoun Jr., of Americus, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Found guilty on all charges in a bench trial on March 21, 2023. Sentenced on Aug. 4, 2023 to 18 months of incarceration, 24 months of supervised release, $2,000 restitution, $170 special assessment. On Aug. 28, 2024, the USCA vacated the obstruction conviction.
7. Dylan Cornell, location unknown, charged on suspicion of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Sentencing not available.
8. Phillip Marion Crawford, of Douglasville, Found guilty on lesser charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. The court declared it will find Crawford guilty of a lesser charge of at the sentencing hearing reset for Feb. 7.
9. Kevin Douglas Creek, of Alpharetta, pleaded guilty to the single charge. Sentenced on May 2, 2022 to 27 months of incarceration, 12 months of supervised release, $100 special assessment and $2,000 restitution.
10. Bruno Joseph Cua, of Milton, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Stipulated bench trial held on Feb. 13, 2023. The court found Cua guilty on two charges: obstruction of an official rroceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on Feb. 26, 2023 to 12 months and a day of incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, special assessment of $200 and restitution of $2,000.

Cua, a student, was convicted of assaulting a police officer and sitting in former Vice President Mike Pence's chair during the siege.

See the full list of Georgia residents charged in the Jan. 6 riot here.

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Those pardoned included former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest term of imprisonment among all of those charged with the Jan. 6 attack — on a conviction of seditious conspiracy.

Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia, who had received the second-longest sentence — 18 years — on his seditious conspiracy conviction was released from a Cumberland, Maryland, federal prison early Tuesday morning.

Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 cases that are pending before judges stemming from the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

Trump has claimed they were unfairly treated by the Justice Department, which also charged him with federal crimes in two cases he contends were politically motivated. Trump said the pardons will end “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years” and begin “a process of national reconciliation.”

The pardons were met with elation from Trump supporters and lawyers for the Jan. 6 defendants. Trump supporters gathered late Monday in the cold outside the Washington jail, where more than a dozen defendants were being held before the pardons.

“We are deeply thankful for President Trump for his actions today,” said James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Rhodes.

“This marks a pivotal moment in our client’s life, and it symbolizes a turning point for our nation,” Tarrio attorney Nayib Hassan said in a statement. “We are optimistic for the future, as we now turn the page on this chapter, embracing new possibilities and opportunities.””

Democrats slammed the move to extend the pardons to violent rioters, many of whose crimes were captured on camera and broadcast on live TV.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution.”

“Donald Trump is ushering in a Golden Age for people that break the law and attempt to overthrow the government," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in an emailed statement.

Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who lost consciousness and suffered a heart attack after a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, appeared taken aback to learn from an Associated Press reporter that those who assaulted police officers are among the pardon recipients.

“This is what the American people voted for,” he said. “How do you react to something like that?”

Fanone said he has spent the past four years worried about his safety and the well-being of his family. Pardoning his assailants only compounds his fears, he said.

“I think they’re cowards,” he said. “Their strength was in their numbers and the mob mentality. And as individuals, they are who they are.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting.