Public January 6 profile · ready to claim
Edward J. Kelley
January 6 case-file subject; defendant in a separate Tennessee federal case
Documented editorial-use imageEdward J. Kelley is a United States Marine Corps veteran from Maryville, Tennessee, Blount County, in the foothills of the Smokies. He is also the January 6 defendant whose D.C. case was **dismissed before he was ever sentenced**, and who is separately serving a life sentence out of an entirely different federal prosecution in East Tennessee. Two records. Two courts. This archive will not blur them, and it will not soften either one. ## The Marine FACT: Kelley served in the United States Marine Corps. Military Times, Fox Chattanooga, and WATE all identify him as a military veteran. He was 35 at the time of his Tennessee trial. FACT: He is from Maryville, Tennessee, a town of about 32,000 outside Knoxville. The Marine Corps oath he took is real and it is his. This archive records earned service wherever it exists, for every person on this list, without exception and without conditions. ## Record one, the January 6 case (dismissed) FACT: Arrested May 5, 2022. A bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia produced findings on eleven of twelve counts before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. FACT: **He was never sentenced in that case.** On January 20, 2025 he received a full January 6 pardon under the presidential clemency proclamation. The government moved to dismiss on January 21, 2025 and the case was **dismissed on January 22, 2025**, before any sentencing. That is the whole of his January 6 federal record: findings entered, pardon issued, case dismissed. ## Record two, the separate Tennessee case (life sentence) This is not a January 6 charge, and it did not happen at the Capitol. It is stated here in full because this archive does not hide court records, not the favorable ones, not the terrible ones. FACT: In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, No. 3:22-cr-00118-TAV-JEM-1, a federal jury convicted Kelley on all three counts on **November 20, 2024**, in a case charging conspiracy to murder federal employees. The Justice Department''s own release describes a list of law enforcement personnel and a plot targeting the FBI''s Knoxville field office. FACT: On **March 10, 2025**, U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan denied post-trial motions and ruled that the January 6 pardon did **not** extend to the Tennessee conduct. FACT: On **July 2, 2025**, Kelley was sentenced to **life imprisonment**. THEIR ACCOUNT: Kelley has stated publicly, in comments reported by WBIR, that he believes he was unjustly prosecuted. This archive has not verified a final appellate outcome in the Tennessee case. ## Case record - January 6 case: **1:22-cr-00408-CKK**, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia - Arrest May 5, 2022 · bench-trial findings on 11 of 12 counts · **never sentenced** - Full J6 pardon January 20, 2025 · dismissal motion January 21, 2025 · **case dismissed January 22, 2025** - Separate case: **3:22-cr-00118-TAV-JEM-1**, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee - Jury conviction November 20, 2024 · pardon-scope and post-trial motions denied March 10, 2025 · life sentence July 2, 2025 - Not a January 6 charge; the J6 pardon was held not to reach it - DOJ record: justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/kelley-edward Anyone searching *Edward Kelley January 6*, *Edward Kelley Maryville Tennessee*, *J6 pardon scope Tennessee*, *January 6 case dismissed 2025*, or *Edward Kelley Marine veteran* deserves both records, cleanly separated and accurately dated. That is what is here. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.
The case file
On the record
- Case number
- 1:22-cr-00408-CKK; separate E.D. Tenn. No. 3:22-cr-00118-TAV-JEM-1
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; separate U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee proceeding
- Judge
- Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (D.D.C.); Thomas A. Varlan (E.D. Tenn.)
- Disposition
- D.D.C. January 6 case: bench-trial findings entered on eleven of twelve counts; full January 6 pardon issued January 20, 2025; government dismissal motion filed January 21 and case dismissed January 22, 2025 before sentencing. Separate Tennessee case: jury convictions entered November 20, 2024; pardon-scope and post-trial motions denied March 10, 2025; life imprisonment imposed July 2, 2025.
- Arrested
- May 5, 2022
- Sentenced
- July 2, 2025
Charges
- D.D.C. complaint allegations: assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers; civil disorder; destruction of government property; related offenses
- D.D.C. bench-trial findings: civil disorder; destruction of government property over $1,000; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; eight misdemeanor counts
- Separate E.D. Tennessee convictions: conspiracy to murder federal employees; solicitation to commit a crime of violence; influencing a federal official by threat
Sentence
No sentence was imposed in the pardoned D.D.C. January 6 case before dismissal. Life imprisonment was imposed July 2, 2025 only in the separate E.D. Tennessee case No. 3:22-cr-00118-TAV-JEM-1.
Press & news
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/tennessee-man-arrested-assaulting-law-enforcement-officer-during-jan-6-capitol-breach →
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/tennessee-man-convicted-assaulting-law-enforcement-and-other-charges-actions-during-jan →
- https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/two-tennessee-men-arrested-planning-attacks-law-enforcement-personnel-and-fbi-s-knoxville →
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/tennessee-man-sentenced-life-prison-conspiring-murder-law-enforcement-and-attack-fbi-office →
- https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/67d10de83db7ac2e2c1cdb0b →
- https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/67d10de83db7ac2e2c1cdb09 →
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/ →
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Kelley_(Capitol_rioter) →
- https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/i-was-unjustly-prosecuted-maryville-man-pardoned-for-jan-6-still-in-jail-on-other-charges/51-0d7ebd24-aa2c-449f-afea-5f5000745b75 →
- https://www.wate.com/news/crime/tn-man-life-sentence-kill-list-fbi-agents-jan-6-investigation/ →
- https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/extremism-disinformation/2025/07/02/veteran-gets-life-sentence-for-plotting-fbi-attack-after-jan-6-arrest/ →
- https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/federal-jury-convicts-man-conspiring-murder-fbi-employees →
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Connection to United States v. Nichols
Edward J. Kelley appears in the record of United States v. Nichols through 10 shared documents on file below. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.
Walk the whole case →Evidence on file
10 documents on file
Court4 documents
Court orders, rulings, transcripts, and docket entries.
ruling · Jul 2, 2025
Edward Kelley: separate Tennessee convictions, pardon-scope ruling, and life sentence
Source bundle separating Edward Kelley's pardoned January 6 proceeding from his later Eastern District of Tennessee prosecution, the March 10, 2025 pardon-scope ruling, and the July 2, 2025 life sentence.
Readruling · Mar 10, 2025
Edward Kelley Tennessee Post-Trial Acquittal and New-Trial Order
Public text of a separate March 10, 2025 Eastern District of Tennessee order denying post-trial requests for acquittal or a new trial.
Readruling · Mar 10, 2025
Edward Kelley Tennessee Pardon-Scope Memorandum Opinion and Order
Public text of Judge Thomas A. Varlan’s March 10, 2025 ruling denying Kelley’s attempt to apply the January 6 pardon to the separate Tennessee convictions.
Readother · May 3, 2022
Edward J. Kelley Criminal Complaint — May 3, 2022
One-page criminal complaint in D.D.C. magistrate matter No. 1:22-mj-00096-RMM. The complaint records charging allegations and is not a finding of guilt.
ReadGovt response6 documents
Responses from DC DOC, the U.S. Marshals, and federal agencies.
article · Jul 2, 2025
DOJ Record of Edward Kelley’s Separate Tennessee Life Sentence
Official DOJ release reporting the July 2, 2025 life sentence in the separate Eastern District of Tennessee case and the November 20, 2024 jury convictions.
Readorder · Jan 20, 2025
January 20, 2025 January 6 Clemency Proclamation
Presidential proclamation commuting the sentences of fourteen named January 6 defendants to time served and granting full, complete, and unconditional pardons to the other covered convicted defendants. Person-specific status must be determined from the proclamation’s two separate clemency provisions.
Readarticle · Nov 8, 2024
Edward Kelley District of Columbia Bench-Trial Result
Official DOJ record reporting that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found Kelley guilty of three felony and eight misdemeanor counts after a bench trial.
Readarticle · Dec 16, 2022
DOJ Announces Separate Tennessee Case Against Edward Kelley and Austin Carter
Official December 16, 2022 release concerning the separate Eastern District of Tennessee complaint. It is preserved separately from Kelley’s January 6 case.
Readarticle · May 5, 2022
DOJ Announces Edward Kelley’s January 6 Arrest
Official May 5, 2022 DOJ release announcing Kelley’s arrest and summarizing complaint-stage allegations, with an express presumption-of-innocence notice.
Readaffidavit · May 3, 2022
FBI Statement of Facts Supporting Edward Kelley Complaint
Fourteen-page FBI Statement of Facts supporting the May 2022 complaint. It contains the government’s probable-cause allegations and identification account.
Read