Daniel Ray Caldwell J6 Case Record: Detention, One-Count Plea, 68-Month Sentence and Full Pardon

By the Real Ryan Nichols Editorial Team

Daniel Ray Caldwell’s January 6 case cannot be accurately told with one label.

The public record contains a seven-count indictment, an important pretrial-detention opinion, one offense to which Caldwell pleaded guilty, a 68-month prison sentence, and a full presidential pardon. It also contains a later interview and public rebuilding updates that must remain attributed to Caldwell or their publishers until the underlying media and supporting records are fully preserved.

Each part means something different.

An indictment records accusations. A detention ruling decides pretrial custody, not guilt. A plea establishes the offense admitted in court. A sentence records the punishment imposed. A pardon is executive clemency; it does not erase the historical plea and judgment or operate as a judicial finding of innocence.

This article separates those stages so readers can inspect the record without turning Caldwell’s case into either a prosecution slogan or an unsupported counter-narrative.

Daniel Ray Caldwell: verified quick facts

Field	Verified record
Full name	Daniel Ray Caldwell
Public profile	Daniel Ray Caldwell J6 case profile
Background	U.S. Marine Corps veteran from The Colony, Texas
Federal case	United States v. Caldwell, No. 1:21-cr-00181-CKK
Court	U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Judge	Colleen Kollar-Kotelly
Arrest	February 10, 2021
Detention opinion	May 21, 2021
Guilty plea	September 26, 2022
Plea offense	18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a)(1) and 111(b)
Sentence	68 months’ imprisonment; 36 months’ supervised release; $2,000 restitution; $100 special assessment
Sentence date	February 1, 2023
Clemency	Full pardon under the January 20, 2025 proclamation
Pardon record	Listed by the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney as a certificate recipient

This table is a procedural summary. None of these entries is presented as a judgment about Caldwell’s overall moral character.

The seven charged counts and the one plea

The May 21, 2021 published detention opinion identifies seven felony and misdemeanor counts in Caldwell’s indictment:

1. civil disorder;
2. assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon;
3. entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
4. disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
5. engaging in physical violence in a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
6. disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and
7. an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building.

Those were charges. The verified disposition was narrower.

On September 26, 2022, Caldwell pleaded guilty to one felony count under 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a)(1) and 111(b). The official DOJ plea record attributes to the plea the government’s account that Caldwell sprayed a line of officers with a chemical irritant on the Lower West Terrace.

The remaining indictment counts are part of the charging history. They should not be silently converted into seven convictions or used as shorthand for Caldwell’s character.

What the detention opinion decided

Federal agents arrested Caldwell in Texas on February 10, 2021. A magistrate judge ordered him detained pending trial. Caldwell then asked the district court to revoke or amend that order.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly denied the request on May 21, 2021. The opinion is significant because it preserved the court’s reasoning and the record then available—but also expressly limited itself. Its factual discussion was for the detention decision and was not a determination of the merits.

The opinion includes government evidence, testimony, and a confidential informant’s descriptions. One uncorroborated label from that informant was identified in testimony as speculation. This article does not repeat that label as fact. A detention record should be read for what it decided, what evidence it considered, and what limits the judge placed on it.

Explore the archive copy: Daniel Ray Caldwell pretrial-detention opinion.

The sentence imposed

Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Caldwell on February 1, 2023. The DOJ sentencing announcement records:

• 68 months in federal prison;
• 36 months of supervised release; and
• $2,000 in restitution.

The archive’s structured sentencing record also preserves a $100 special assessment. The native judgment remains a priority capture so the full set of financial and custody terms can be checked against the signed court document.

A full pardon—not one of the fourteen commutations

President Donald J. Trump’s January 20, 2025 clemency proclamation commuted the sentences of fourteen named people and granted a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to other covered January 6 defendants.

Caldwell was not one of the fourteen named commutation recipients. The DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney’s certificate-recipient list separately includes “CALDWELL, DANIEL RAY.” The archive therefore classifies his clemency as a full pardon.

That classification matters. A pardon and a commutation are different forms of executive clemency. Neither should be described as a judicial order vacating Caldwell’s historical plea or as a new merits finding about the underlying conduct.

Caldwell’s post-release account

A February 9, 2025 article by Tim Hale presents a post-release interview with Caldwell lasting more than two hours. The publisher says Caldwell discussed his background, Marine service, January 6, incarceration, rebuilding, and plans to obtain and publish Metropolitan Police Department video.

Those subjects are documented as Caldwell’s firsthand perspective and the publisher’s description—not as independently proven archive findings. The native video and a complete, time-coded transcript have not yet been preserved and reviewed, so this article does not lift isolated quotations from the interview.

The profile also links Caldwell’s public support page and dated campaign updates about benefits, employment, family reconnection, and video-review work. Those details remain campaign statements unless supported by independent records.

Review the source records:

• Tim Hale interview archive entry
• Public support updates archive entry

Six-event case timeline

• February 10, 2021: Federal arrest in Texas.
• May 21, 2021: District court denies pretrial release, without deciding guilt.
• September 26, 2022: Caldwell pleads guilty to one felony count.
• February 1, 2023: Court imposes a 68-month sentence.
• January 20, 2025: Caldwell receives a full pardon.
• February 9, 2025: Post-release interview is published.

What this record establishes—and what it does not

The available record establishes Caldwell’s arrest, detention ruling, guilty plea, sentence, and full pardon. It also establishes that a publisher released a post-pardon interview attributed to him.

It does not establish every allegation in the original indictment as a conviction. It does not turn a pretrial ruling into a trial verdict. It does not independently corroborate every claim in a support campaign or interview. And the pardon should not be rewritten as either a judicial exoneration or a reason to erase the historical court record.

That disciplined separation is the point of a case file: readers should be able to see what each source proves, what remains disputed, and what still needs to be captured.

Ryan’s Take

The editorial position of this site is that the Biden-era January 6 prosecution program should be scrutinized as an example of politicized and disproportionate federal power. Caldwell’s lengthy pretrial detention and 68-month sentence belong in that public debate.

That analysis does not change the underlying source record. Caldwell entered a one-count guilty plea; the court imposed a sentence; President Trump later granted clemency. Advocacy is strongest when it preserves those facts, attributes government claims, and does not invent an exculpatory record that has not been found.

Related profiles and Case Nexus

• Daniel Ray Caldwell profile
• Donald J. Trump profile, connected as the granting president
• Tim Hale profile, connected as the post-release interviewer and publisher
• Ryan Nichols profile
• Explore the J6 Case Nexus for people, filings, events, and source relationships
• Compare another sourced procedural record: Thomas Webster’s trial, sentence, pardon, and denied-vacatur record

Evidence still needed

The most useful next submissions are:

1. native complaint, indictment, plea agreement, statement of offense, and judgment;
2. detention-hearing, plea, and sentencing transcripts;
3. Bureau of Prisons custody, transfer, medical, and release records;
4. Caldwell’s individual pardon-certificate file;
5. the native Tim Hale interview video and a complete time-coded transcript;
6. records that support or contradict specific detention-treatment, medical-care, or police-video claims; and
7. a provenance-cleared portrait or release photograph with a lawful reuse basis.

Do not submit private family information, authentication credentials, or copyrighted media you lack permission to share. Use the evidence-submission page for records with a source URL, date, docket number, and provenance.

Principal sources

• DOJ plea announcement, September 26, 2022
• DOJ sentencing announcement, February 2, 2023
• Published detention opinion, May 21, 2021
• January 20, 2025 clemency proclamation
• DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney certificate-recipient list
• George Washington University Capitol Hill Siege case-file index
• Tim Hale’s February 9, 2025 interview listing

Image note: The social artwork is symbolic and does not depict Caldwell, a real court document, or a law-enforcement seal. No portrait was used because a provenance-cleared photograph with a verified reuse basis was not available.

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