A federal judge on Friday dismissed criminal convictions against several Proud Boys leaders prosecuted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a Justice Department motion to dismiss the case against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were convicted in 2023 of seditious conspiracy and other offenses. Pezzola was convicted of assaulting a police officer and breaking a Capitol window that became the first entry point used by hundreds of rioters.
The defendants received lengthy prison sentences, but President Donald Trump commuted their sentences in January 2025 as part of broad clemency for about 1,500 people charged or convicted in January 6 cases.
The commutations ended their prison terms but initially left the convictions intact. The Justice Department later asked a federal appeals court to vacate the convictions. The appeals court approved that request in May, clearing the way for the case to be dismissed at the district-court level.
Kelly said refusing the government’s motion would serve no practical purpose because the convictions had already been vacated.
“There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case,” Kelly wrote, pointing to Trump’s publicly stated opposition to January 6 prosecutions and his decision to grant clemency.
Proud Boys leaders have made it clear that they are emboldened as result of the news.
“We go to f*cking war. We continue this fight in civil court. We hold the b*stards who did this accountable,” former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wrote in a Facebook post.
The dismissal comes as five Proud Boys leaders pursue a $100 million lawsuit against the federal government, alleging their January 6 prosecutions were politically motivated and violated their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit, filed in Florida by Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola, accuses FBI agents and federal prosecutors of “egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system.” The plaintiffs allege evidence tampering, witness intimidation and misconduct intended to punish Trump’s political allies.
Tarrio, the group’s former chairman, received a 22-year sentence after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other offenses connected to efforts to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election. The other plaintiffs also received prison sentences before Trump granted pardons or commutations after returning to office.
“These people have been destroyed,” Trump said when announcing clemency, calling their treatment unprecedented and outrageous.
The lawsuit names the Justice Department, now led by Attorney General Todd Blanche, as the defendant. The department had not publicly responded to the allegations.
