Rioter pardoned by Trump sentenced to life in for plotting to kill FBI agents

Edward Kelly, a January 6 rioter pardoned by Donald Trump last January, has been sentenced to life in prison.

A Jan. 6 defendant who plotted to murder FBI special agents who investigated him over his actions at the Capitol has been sentenced to life in prison.

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-07-02T22:00:25Z

He was convicted of planning the assassination of FBI special agents investigating his role in the Capitol insurrection.

Kelly was convicted in November 2024, several months before receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump for his involvement in the events of January 6.

The court found the defendant guilty of three serious crimes, including conspiracy to murder U.S. government employees.

He received a life sentence for inciting an act of violence and threatening federal agents in an effort to intimidate or retaliate.

Federal prosecutors called Kelly a man “without the slightest remorse” for his actions. Describing himself as a “patriot”, he allegedly organized paramilitary exercises, planned his operation in detail and drew up a nominative list of federal agents to be shot.

It should be recalled that Kelly and his lawyers had tried, unsuccessfully, to use Donald Trump’s pardon to have his trial in this case overturned.