Ryan Nichols

Public January 6 profile · ready to claim

Howard Berton Adams

Pardoned January 6 defendant

Howard Berton Adams profile photograph from NPR's January 6 archiveDocumented editorial-use image
NPR's The Capitol Charges; database photo credit: Department of Justice (all named credit exceptions excluded) Published for archive identification and reporting; reuse rights are not represented as cleared.Image source →

Howard Berton Adams Jr. is an Edgewater, Florida man, Volusia County, who fought his January 6 felony case by himself in federal court. FACT: Adams was about 60 when he was arrested in March 2021, one of several Volusia County residents charged over that day. (ClickOrlando) FACT: He fired his public defenders and represented himself, a man in his sixties standing alone against the Justice Department. The road was bumpy. He missed a November 2022 court date and was reported to have claimed sovereign-citizen status at one point. He stayed free on personal recognizance for the entire case. (ClickOrlando) FACT: On January 26, 2023, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. (WFTV; DOJ) FACT: On March 18, 2023, a federal judge sentenced him to 8 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, a $2,000 fine, and $2,000 restitution. Prosecutors had asked for a year. (DOJ; Local10) FACT: On January 20, 2025, presidential clemency covered January 6 cases, including his felony conviction. WHERE THINGS STAND: A felony plea, 8 months served, and a pardon. Adams went home to Edgewater, on his own, the way he fought the case. CASE RECORD Case 1:21-cr-358, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Arrested March 10, 2021. Indicted May 14, 2021, pleaded not guilty to all counts. Superseding indictment December 1, 2021. Pleaded guilty January 26, 2023, to a felony civil-disorder count. Sentenced March 18, 2023. Pardoned January 20, 2025. Adams's decision to represent himself made his case an outlier in the January 6 docket, where the overwhelming majority of defendants were represented by counsel. ClickOrlando covered his hearings from arrest through sentencing. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.

The case file

On the record

Case number
1:21-cr-358
Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Disposition
Arrested 3/10/21. Initial appearance held 3/18/21 Indicted 5/14/21. Pleaded not guilty to all counts. Superseding indictment filed 12/1/2021. Pleaded Guilty 1/26/2023 to a felony count of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Sentenced 3/18/2023 to 8 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release, $2,000 fine, $2,000 restitution. Pardoned 1/20/2025.
Arrested
March 10, 2021

Charges

  • Interfering with Law Enforcement Officers During a Civil Disorder

Sentence

8 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release, $2,000 fine, $2,000 restitution

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Connection to United States v. Nichols

Howard Berton Adams appears in the record of United States v. Nichols. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.

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