
Far-right media personality Anthime Gionet, also known as Baked Alaska, arrives for his sentencing at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse on January 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. Gionet had pleaded guilty for storming the U.S. Capitol with a group of President Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
Just over a dozen people with ties to Arizona could have an insurrection-sized blemish on their criminal record wiped away next month if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his promise to pardon those involved with the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
In an interview on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump—himself a convicted felon—said he would follow through on his campaign promise to pardon some of the individuals prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“First day. Yeah, I’m looking for these pardons,” said Trump. “I’m going to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual cases.”
Of the roughly 1,500 people charged with federal crimes for their involvement in the attack, 13 of them have ties to Arizona—four of whom have not yet served their full prison sentence:
1. James McGrew, arrested in Glendale: Pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement. Sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison. His expected release date without a presidential pardon is August 2029.
2. Edward Vallejo, Phoenix: Found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Sentenced to three years in prison and three years probation. His expected release date without a presidential pardon is June 2026.
3. Jacob Zerkle, Bowie: Pleaded guilty to civil disorder and assaulting law enforcement. Sentenced to two years in prison and three years probation. His expected release date without a presidential pardon is March 2026.
4. Ryan Zink, former Phoenix resident: Found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct. Sentenced to three months in prison and 12 months unsupervised release. Zink was sentenced in September 2024 and has not begun to serve his sentence.
As a former J6 Political Prisoner we want a specific pardon. A pardon of innocence.
— Ryan Zink for Congress TX-19 (@RyanZ4Congress) December 9, 2024
5. Steve Bannon, Oro Valley: Found guilty of contempt of Congress. Sentenced to four months in prison. Bannon served his prison sentence and was released in October 2024.
6. Jacob Chansley AKA QAnon Shaman, Phoenix: Pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding. Sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison , Chansley was released 14 months early on May 25, 2024.
7. Tim Gionet AKA Baked Alaska, Scottsdale: Pleaded guilty to unlawfully parading, demonstrating, or picketing. Sentenced to 60 days in prison and 24 months probation. Gionet completed his prison sentence, and without a presidential pardon, his probation is expected to end in May 2025.
8. Wayne Entrekin AKA Captain Moroni, Cottonwood: Pleaded guilty to unlawfully parading, demonstrating, or picketing. Sentenced to 45 days in jail, 36 months probation, and 60 hours of community service. Entrekin completed his prison sentence, and without a presidential pardon, his probation is expected to end in July 2025.
9. Micajah Joel Jackson, Phoenix: Pleaded guilty to unlawfully parading, demonstrating, or picketing. Sentenced to three years probation. Without a presidential pardon, Jackson’s probationis expected to end in April 2025.
10. Ray Epps, former Queen Creek resident: Pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. Without a presidential pardon, Epps’ probation is expected to end in January 2025.
11. Olympic swimmer Klete Keller, former Phoenix resident: Pleaded guilty to obstruction of US Congress. Sentenced to 36 months probation and six months of house arrest. Without a presidential pardon, Keller’s probation and house arrest is expected to end in June 2027.
12. Felicia Konold, Tucson: Pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting. Sentenced to 45 days in prison and two years probation. Without a presidential pardon, Konold’s probation is expected to end in March 2026
13. Cory Konold, Tucson: Pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and aiding and abetting. Sentenced to 30 days in prison and two years probation. Without a presidential pardon, Konold’s probation is expected to end in March 2026
Trump promised as early as January 2022 that he would pardon his supporters who stormed the US Capitol. His scope seems to have narrowed since securing reelection, however, from issuing a pardon to anyone involved who required one to looking at each insurrectionist on a case-by-case basis.
But Trump may not pardon them at all. A campaign promise made by Trump has proven to mean very little compared to his actions while in office. Only one US president issued fewer pardons than Trump did during his first term, and his were reserved for billionaires, grifters, and celebrities.
Zink and Gionet have expressed confidence that Trump would pardon them once he’s sworn in, despite not doing so when he had the pardon power in 2021. Several insurrectionists, like Angeli, asked for a pardon before Trump left office, but those pleas were ignored.
Help is on the way ❤️🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/q8keu5GZsz
— Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) December 8, 2024
Other Arizonans implicated in crimes relating to the Jan. 6 insurrection, like state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern and Sen.-elect Mark Finchem, would not benefit from a presidential pardon. They’ve been indicted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on felony charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
“I have absolutely no intention of dropping the fake electors case,” said Mayes. “They are not affected one bit by Donald Trump’s election to the presidency.”
Nearly 50 other elected officials in Arizona were involved in the attempt to overturn the will of voters in the 2020 presidential election and keep Trump in power. Most have not been formally charged with crimes and would likely only receive protection from Trump if a blanket pardon was issued.
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