Public January 6 profile · ready to claim

Cara Maureen Hentschel

Pardoned January 6 defendant

Documented editorial-use image

Cara Maureen Hentschel is a Springfield, Missouri woman identified through her own January 6 photos, and she took a plea deal that kept her out of prison. FACT: Hentschel was identified after an FBI tip about photographs she posted from inside the Capitol. She was arrested on a warrant October 4, 2021, alongside another Springfield woman charged the same week. (Washington Post; KY3) FACT: She pleaded guilty May 18, 2022, to entering and remaining in a restricted building. Charges also referenced in the DOJ record: disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. (DOJ) FACT: On September 30, 2022, she was sentenced to 45 days in a halfway house, 36 months of probation, a $500 fine, and $500 restitution. No prison time. (DOJ) FACT: On January 20, 2025, President Trump granted clemency covering the January 6 prosecutions, and her case was among those closed out by the proclamation. WHERE THINGS STAND: A guilty plea, 45 days in a halfway house, no prison, and a full pardon. Hentschel's case moved through the system without a trial and without significant delay compared to many January 6 dockets. CASE RECORD Case 1:21-cr-667, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Arrested October 4, 2021. Information filed November 11, 2021. Pleaded guilty May 18, 2022. Sentenced September 30, 2022. Pardoned January 20, 2025. Hentschel's case moved on a standard misdemeanor track, from arrest to plea to sentencing in well under a year, without a trial, without an appeal, and without any allegation anywhere in the record that she assaulted anyone or damaged property inside the building. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.