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Couy Griffin

Pardoned January 6 defendant

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Before Couy Griffin was a name in a January 6 headline, he was a lot of other things: a rancher's son from Otero County, New Mexico, a New Mexico State University graduate, and for a stretch in the 2000s, a horseback performer touring Europe with a Wild West show. In 2006 he became pastor of New Heart Church in Alamogordo. Then he did something most people only talk about. He rode a horse across the United States, and later rode one from Ireland down through Europe to Jerusalem. He founded Cowboys for Trump and, in 2019, won a seat as an Otero County Commissioner. Here is the record. Griffin walked into a restricted area outside the Capitol on January 6. He was tried before a judge, not a jury, and convicted of two misdemeanors: entering a restricted area and disorderly conduct. He served 14 days, credited against time already served, plus a year of supervised release, community service, and a fine. A New Mexico court later removed him from his commissioner seat under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, believed to be the first time that clause had been used to remove an official in over a century. On January 20, 2025, President Trump granted clemency covering the January 6 prosecutions. Since then, by his own account, Griffin has gone back to honest work for an honest wage, describing himself in a January 2025 interview as a $15 an hour golf cart mechanic. A pastor and rancher who once rode a horse to Jerusalem, then lost an elected office and rebuilt from a mechanic's bench: that is a bigger story than one afternoon in Washington. Case 1:21-cr-92. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Charges, per the DOJ record: Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building. The docket, as recorded: Arrested 1/17/21 and initial appearance held 2/1/21. Released on bond 2/5/21. Charged via criminal information 2/8/21. Arraigned 3/11/21 and pleaded not guilty. Third amended Information filed, 3/7/22. Found guilty by Court on 3/22/22. Sentenced 6/17/22 to 14 days in jail (time already served), one year of supervised release, 60 hours of community service, $3,000 fine, $500 restitution. Credit for time already served (20 days). This profile is unclaimed. If this is you — or your family — claiming it is free, forever.