Ryan Nichols

Public January 6 profile · ready to claim

Willard John Purkel, Jr.

Pardoned January 6 defendant

Willard John Purkel, Jr. 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 →

Willard John Purkel, Jr. is a Covington, Louisiana man, a Northshore father who went to Washington on January 6 with his grown son, Colby Purkel. St. Tammany Parish. Two men from the same family, and the government came for both of them. Almost three years passed before anyone knocked. The Purkels were arrested in Louisiana on November 30, 2023. FACT, Louisiana Illuminator, December 1, 2023. THE LEGAL FIGHT Willard Purkel Jr., 51 at the time, and Colby Purkel, 27, were each charged with felony civil disorder plus multiple misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. CHARGE ONLY. Bond was set at $50,000 for the father and $5,000 for the son, and both were ordered to surrender their firearms as a condition of release. FACT, Louisiana Illuminator. Court records described cellphone location data used to trace their movements. CHARGE ONLY. The Department of Justice later announced a guilty plea and a sentencing in the Covington, Louisiana case, with the son sentenced before the father. FACT, DOJ press releases and WWL-TV. The specific counts of conviction and the exact sentence terms attributable to Willard John Purkel, Jr. are NEEDS AUTHENTICATION. If you have the judgment, send it and this record gets completed. On January 20, 2025 a Presidential proclamation granted a full, complete and unconditional pardon for offenses relating to events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE as applied to Willard John Purkel, Jr., pending a pardon certificate confirmation. WHAT THIS DOES NOT PROVE Nothing in the available record alleges Willard Purkel Jr. used a weapon or injured anyone. CASE RECORD Name: Willard John Purkel, Jr. Hometown: Covington, Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish. Case number: NEEDS AUTHENTICATION, not published in available coverage. Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Arrested November 30, 2023. Louisiana news coverage and DOJ press releases are linked on this profile. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.

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Connection to United States v. Nichols

Willard John Purkel, Jr. appears in the record of United States v. Nichols. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.

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