Federal Judge Vacates Seditious Conspiracy Convictions of Four Proud Boys Members
The dismissal with prejudice closes the most serious Jan. 6-related criminal cases, raising questions about the Justice Department's shift in prosecutorial priorities under the current administration.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, granted the Department of Justice's motion to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of four former Proud Boys members on July 11, 2026, according to reporting by the Washington Examiner. The ruling dismissed with prejudice the indictments against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola — individuals who had received some of the heaviest sentences arising from the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The four men had been convicted of seditious conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 2384, charges that allege conspiring to oppose the authority of the United States government by force. Original sentencing records from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia show Nordean received 18 years, Biggs 17 years, Rehl 15 years, and Pezzola 10 years following jury verdicts in 2023. A dismissal with prejudice means the government cannot refile the same charges.
The motion to dismiss was filed by the Department of Justice under the current Trump administration — a reversal of the prior administration's prosecutorial posture. The DOJ did not publicly release a detailed written rationale accompanying the motion at the time of publication; the full motion and any accompanying memoranda are public records available through PACER under Case No. 1:21-cr-00175 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Judge Kelly's decision follows a broader pattern of the current DOJ reviewing and, in some cases, moving to drop Jan. 6-related prosecutions. The Justice Department separately dropped or sought reduced sentences in dozens of other Jan. 6 cases in 2025, according to court docket records filed in the District of Columbia. The total number of Jan. 6 cases affected by DOJ motions to dismiss or sentence reductions since January 20, 2025, is not consolidated in a single public database; the most complete accounting would be found in a comprehensive PACER search of cases filed under the Jan. 6 docket umbrella.
What remains unknown is whether the DOJ provided Judge Kelly with a written statement of reasons explaining the legal basis for vacating the convictions, and whether any of the four defendants will face separate civil liability proceedings. The full docket record, including any government memorandum submitted alongside the dismissal motion, would answer both questions and is accessible through PACER at no charge to credentialed press.