Public January 6 profile · ready to claim

Leo Christopher Kelly

Pardoned January 6 defendant

Documented editorial-use image

Leo Christopher Kelly is 35 years old, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and his case is one of the harder ones to sum up in a headline, because it did not end where it started. Prosecutors charged him with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering restricted areas including the floor of Congress itself, and disorderly conduct. Kelly pleaded not guilty and took his case to a jury. On May 9, 2023, that jury found him guilty on all seven counts. On August 18, 2023, he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, 36 months of supervised release, restitution, and fines. Kelly did not stop fighting after sentencing. On September 9, 2024, a federal appeals court vacated his obstruction conviction, part of the nationwide wave of reversals after the Supreme Court narrowed that same charge used against hundreds of January 6 defendants. He was resentenced on December 10, 2024, to time served. Along the way, his case took an unusual turn when he was mistakenly released from federal custody early, a fact local Iowa reporters confirmed at the time. On January 20, 2025, Leo Christopher Kelly received a full presidential pardon. He has not gone quiet since. Iowa Public Radio reported this year that Kelly is now pursuing restitution from the federal government over the ordeal, a citizen who does not plan to let the record close without an accounting on both sides of the ledger. THE RECORD Name: Leo Christopher Kelly Hometown: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Trial: Found guilty on all seven counts by a jury, May 9, 2023 Post-trial: Obstruction conviction vacated on appeal, September 9, 2024; resentenced to time served, December 10, 2024 Clemency: Full pardon, January 20, 2025 Sources: Federal charging document; Iowa Public Radio; KCRG; We Are Iowa What this does not prove: it does not erase the jury's original verdict. What it does prove: a conviction narrowed on appeal, a resentencing to time served, a full pardon, and a man still pushing for accountability today. This is the record, still being written. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.