Jan. 6 defendant Jeremy Brown released from prison 37 days after presidential pardon

Former U.S. Army Green Beret and Oath Keeper Jeremy Michael Brown walked out the front door of the federal prison in Atlanta on Feb. 26, ending his 37-day saga since President Donald J. Trump issued pardons to more than 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants.

Brown, 50, of Tampa, was one of the last remaining Jan. 6 defendants left behind bars in the wake of President Trump’s pardon and commutation proclamation issued the night of Jan. 20.

Brown was initially told that he would not be released because prosecutors did not consider one of his two criminal cases to be “related” to Jan. 6, as required by the pardon declaration. It became clear, however, that the U.S. Department of Justice had long considered the Florida case to be a Jan. 6 case.

He said the grenades were planted to support his prosecution because he refused a request from two Joint Terrorism Task Force agents to spy on the Oath Keepers.

Under a new acting U.S. attorney in Tampa, the DOJ entered a motion in U.S. district court stating that President Trump’s pardon covers both Brown’s D.C. and Florida criminal cases. That opened the prison gate for Brown one day later.

It is still to be determined whether Brown’s Florida conviction will be vacated. He had an active case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Oral arguments were set for March 6.

In many Jan. 6 cases that were on appeal, the Court of Appeals vacated the convictions and sent the cases back to district court to be dismissed as moot. It is an important distinction from simply having a pardon, as it allows former defendants to avoid having a “convicted felon” label follow them around for the rest of their lives.

On April 7, 2023, Brown was found guilty by a federal jury in Tampa on six criminal counts that included possessing a short-barrel rifle and shotgun, possession of explosive grenades, improper storage of explosive grenades, and willful retention of a national defense document. Brown was found not guilty of four other charges. He was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

The Florida case grew out of a Jan. 6-related search of Brown’s Tampa residence on Sept. 30, 2021. Brown said the firearms were family heirlooms that belonged to his late father and late brother. He said the grenades were planted to support his prosecution because he refused a request from two Joint Terrorism Task Force agents to spy on the Oath Keepers leading up to and beyond Jan. 6, 2021.

Two similar Jan. 6 cases remain unresolved: Elias Nick Costianes, 46, of Nottingham, Md., and Benjamin John Martin, 46, of Madera, Calif. Like Brown, both men had two Jan. 6 criminal cases brought against them. One case covered their alleged actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and the other was for items found by the FBI during searches of their residences.

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