Jan. 6 defendant sentenced to life in prison for plotting to kill FBI special agents who investigated him

WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 defendant who plotted to murder FBI special agents who investigated him over his actions at the Capitol was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday

WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 defendant who plotted to murder FBI special agents who investigated him over his actions at the Capitol was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

Edward Kelley was convicted in November of conspiracy to murder employees of the United States; solicitation to commit a crime of violence; and influencing or retaliating against federal officials by threat. President Donald Trump pardoned Kelley, alongside roughly 1,500 other Jan. 6 defendants, in January.

U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan imposed the sentence on Wednesday during a hearing in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Edward Kelley at the Capitol on Jan.6, 2021.U.S. District CourtKelley's team argued that Trump's pardon should apply to his conduct in the murder plot. While the Justice Department had argued that the pardons should apply to separate gun cases against other Jan. 6 defendants, they said the pardon did not apply to Kelley's conduct. A federal judge ruled that Trump's pardon did not apply to the murder plot.

Federal prosecutors sought life in prison for Kelley, calling him “remorseless" and writing that he had "shown neither a capacity nor desire" to rehabilitate.