Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who plotted murder of federal employees wants conviction overturned

30 January

A man who received a pardon from President Donald Trump over his participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol now wants a separate federal conviction overturned for an even more heinous crime.

Knoxville, Tennessee-based ABC affiliate WATE recently reported that 35 year-old Edward Kelley is now arguing that Trump's pardon should mean that a different felony conviction should also be thrown out. Kelley was convicted in November on charges of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing a federal official by threat.

His conviction was secured after his accomplice — 26 year-old Austin Carter — testified against him at trial, after he pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2023. Carter said on the stand that he and Kelley plotted to attack the Knoxville FBI office using car bombs and “incendiary devices appended to drones.” Kelley and Carter had also assembled a "kill list" that included both FBI agents and dozens of investigators who worked on January 6 cases.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Kelley hatched the plot to murder federal employees while he was awaiting trial for his role in the Capitol siege. The DOJ further stated that both he and Carter "strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters."

Kelley's attorney is now arguing that the pardon his client received from the 47th president of the United States should carry over to his other federal conviction, based on how Trump worded the executive order announcing the pardons.

“It is clear from the President’s executive action that he intended his executive order to sweep broadly. If he had wanted it to apply to just the actions of January 6th he would have said so,” Kelley's attorney wrote. “Rather he styled his executive action as 'related to' events that occurred at or near the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Thus, Kelley is entitled to the immediate dismissal of the indictment in this Court and immediate release from custody.”

Both Kelley and Carter are due to be sentenced in May, and face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Click here to read WATE's report in its entirety.

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