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Farhad Azari

January 6 case-file subject

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Farhad Azari is a Virginia man whose January 6 case was prosecuted alongside that of his adult son, Farbod “Francis” Azari. The record identifies Farhad by that name; no verified alias for Farhad has been captured. Public sources place him in the Richmond, Virginia area, but this archive does not publish a private address. ## Verified identity and case Farhad was the first-listed defendant in *United States v. Azari*, D.D.C. No. 1:23-cr-00251-RCL, before U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth. His earlier complaint matter was No. 1:23-mj-00013-GMH. CourtListener identifies Stephen F. Brennwald as defense counsel. Farbod Azari was the co-defendant. [View the public docket record](/case/documents/farhad-azari-courtlistener-docket-1-23-cr-00251). ## Procedural chronology - **January 13, 2023:** FBI Special Agent Brittany Ausley submitted a 21-page affidavit seeking a criminal complaint and arrest warrant. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey attested the application. This was a probable-cause record, not a verdict. [Affidavit record](/case/documents/farhad-azari-fbi-affidavit-2023-01-13). - **January 18, 2023:** The warrant was executed in Virginia. A corresponding Eastern District of Virginia Rule 5 matter appears as No. 3:23-mj-00006. The archive has not captured the release order or a complete pretrial-custody history, so it does not infer detention terms. - **July 26, 2023:** A grand jury returned an indictment in district case No. 1:23-cr-00251-RCL. The indictment charged Farhad and Farbod with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts. Charges are accusations unless admitted or adjudicated. [Indictment record](/case/documents/farhad-farbod-azari-indictment-2023-07-26). - **January 22, 2024:** Farhad pleaded guilty to civil disorder under 18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3) and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon under 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a)(1) and (b). Those two plea counts—not every count in the indictment—define the admitted criminal disposition captured here. [DOJ plea record](/case/documents/farhad-azari-doj-guilty-plea-2024-01-22). - **June 7, 2024:** Judge Lamberth imposed 30 months’ imprisonment. Public docket and contemporary reporting also describe 24 months’ supervised release and $2,000 restitution. The signed judgment and Statement of Reasons remain uncaptured, so the financial and supervision terms are identified as reported rather than file-level verified. [Sentencing record](/case/documents/farhad-azari-sentencing-record-2024-06-07). - **January 20, 2025:** Proclamation 10887 granted full pardons to covered convicted January 6 defendants other than the fourteen people expressly named for sentence commutations. Farhad was not among those fourteen. The Office of the Pardon Attorney’s public certificate page separately lists the exact entry “AZARI, FARHAD,” supporting full-pardon status. [Certificate-recipient record](/case/documents/farhad-azari-pardon-certificate-recipient-record-2025). ## Government allegations and admitted record The FBI affidavit alleged that Farhad threw a water bottle, kicked and pushed a bike-rack barrier, and later threw a staff or flagpole and an object described as an air horn toward officers. It further alleged that he entered the Capitol twice. Those descriptions were offered to establish probable cause. The same affidavit also recorded qualifying observations: it stated that, at points after entering, Farhad appeared to place himself between other people and officers and appeared to try to keep confrontations from escalating. That observation does not erase the affidavit’s other allegations, and it should not be omitted from a fair summary. The later DOJ plea announcement stated that Farhad admitted guilt to the two felony counts identified above. Without the native plea agreement and statement of offense, this archive does not claim that he admitted every descriptive detail in the complaint or every count in the indictment. ## Farhad’s statements and defense boundary According to the FBI affidavit, Farhad told agents during an April 13, 2021 interview that he did not agree with violence at the Capitol, denied being there and said the images could depict another “brown man.” The affidavit attributes those statements to him; the archive has not captured an audio recording or signed interview statement. His January 2024 guilty plea later changed the case’s legal posture, but it does not convert the government’s entire complaint narrative into a judicial finding. No authenticated public interview or person-authored post-pardon account from Farhad was located in the sources reviewed for this expansion. Defense sentencing papers and a sentencing transcript also remain missing. Their absence should not be filled by inference. ## Judicial findings and clemency The established judicial record captured here is the accepted guilty plea and the sentence imposed by Judge Lamberth. The broader indictment was not a trial verdict. The January 2025 pardon was executive clemency; it is recorded separately from the plea and sentence and is not presented as a factual finding about the charged conduct or about Farhad’s character. ## Related archive connections - [Farbod Azari profile](/case/people/farbod-azari) - [Complaint filed](/case/events/farhad-azari-complaint-filed-2023-01-13) - [Arrest warrant executed](/case/events/farhad-azari-arrested-2023-01-18) - [Indictment returned](/case/events/farhad-azari-indicted-2023-07-26) - [Guilty plea entered](/case/events/farhad-azari-guilty-plea-2024-01-22) - [Sentence imposed](/case/events/farhad-azari-sentenced-2024-06-07) - [Full pardon](/case/events/farhad-azari-full-pardon-2025-01-20) - [Case Nexus](/case/nexus) - [Submit evidence](/intake) or [request a correction](/corrections) ## Visual status and remaining gaps The current visual is a face-free archive identity card reading “Portrait Needed.” It is not a photograph or likeness. No authentic portrait was imported because identity and lawful-reuse rights were not verified together. Still needed: native plea agreement and statement of offense, signed judgment, Statement of Reasons, sentencing memoranda and transcript, complete custody/release chronology, individual pardon-certificate PDF, authenticated firsthand interview, archive-controlled copies of the court PDFs, and a provenance-cleared portrait.