At least 10 area men exonerated by president
In one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump on Monday (Jan. 20) pardoned more than 1,500 men and women charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during the certification of Joe Biden’s election win.
Those receiving “full, complete and unconditional pardons” include at least five local men convicted of felonies.
Trump, declaring Monday to be “liberation day,” also commuted the sentences of 14 people associated with the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers and convicted of seditious conspiracy for mounting an organized, military-like assault. Because they did not receive pardons, they will continue to face restrictions such as a ban on voting and owning firearms.
More than 700 of the 1,100 people convicted received no prison time or have completed their sentences. But as of this week, about 400 others were incarcerated. At least 387 rioters were convicted of assaulting police officers or journalists, according to a tally by The Washington Post.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes Philipstown, two weeks ago said on MSNBC he didn’t think anyone who committed violence on Jan. 6 should be pardoned. In a statement on Tuesday (Jan. 21), a spokesman said Lawler’s stance hasn’t changed but that, “as President Biden proved by preemptively pardoning his entire family, the president has absolute pardon authority.”
Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, said in a statement that Trump had “pardoned insurrectionists convicted of violently assaulting police officers. That doesn’t make life more safe for Hudson Valley families.”
William Pepe, Beacon
On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed the indictment against Pepe following a motion by prosecutors who cited Trump’s order.
Pepe, who now lives in White Plains, was found guilty in a bench trial on Oct. 23 of a felony (obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder) and four misdemeanors. He was identified by prosecutors as president of the Hudson Valley chapter of the Proud Boys and accused of coordinating with other Proud Boys by radio and moving a police barricade.
Pepe was arrested six days after the riot and fired from his job at Metro-North in Brewster. He has been free until sentencing, which was scheduled for March 11.
Gregory Purdy Jr., Hopewell Junction
Matthew Purdy, Hopewell Junction
Robert Turner, Poughkeepsie
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed indictments against Purdy Jr., a 2016 Carmel High School graduate, and Turner, his uncle.
Purdy Jr. was convicted by a jury in June of six felonies. Turner, 42, formerly of Poughkeepsie, was convicted of three felonies. Both were found guilty of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. Gregory Purdy’s younger brother, Matthew, was convicted of two misdemeanors.
The government had asked that Purdy Jr. be sentenced to five years. On Dec. 6, Matthew Purdy was sentenced to 90 days and sent to a detention center in Philadelphia.
The Purdy brothers are sons of Gregory Purdy-Schwartz, a Republican from Kent who in 2016 challenged then-Assembly Member Sandy Galef, a Democrat whose district included Philipstown, for her seat. According to a LinkedIn profile, Purdy Jr. managed his father’s campaign.
“To all the haters out there, President Trump kept his word,” Gregory Purdy said in a phone call on Monday to supporters waiting outside the Washington, D.C., jail where he was being held, according to The Washington Post.
In a court filing after Purdy Jr. was arrested in November 2021, the FBI cited videos he posted on social media and footage retrieved from body cameras worn by two Metropolitan Police Department officers confronted outside the Capitol at 2 p.m. by Purdy Jr. and Purdy-Schwartz, about 20 minutes before the House and Senate chambers were evacuated. According to the FBI, Purdy Jr. told the officers, “You gotta let us by,” and his father said, “You’re going to make a decision.”
Purdy Jr. later posted to Instagram, according to a criminal complaint: “Inside the capital getting tear gassed! My eyes and skin still are irritated! Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” He promised to post more footage with his brother and uncle from inside the Capitol and to explain “how I got out of it with no charges and nothing on my record and got out of DC without being in a jail cell.”
Christopher Finney, Hopewell Junction
Finney was arrested in February 2024 and charged with two felonies and five misdemeanors. He agreed on Oct. 18 to plead guilty to a felony count of obstructing, impeding or interfering with law enforcement, and prosecutors requested a 15-month sentence. On Monday, prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case, citing Trump’s order.
According to the FBI, Finney was among the rioters pushing against a police line in a tunnel on the grounds. He was recorded saying: “We’re gonna storm the Capitol. They’re not gonna keep us outta there. We’re gonna make sure that this is done correct and that Donald Trump is still our president.”
The FBI said Finney was wearing goggles, a protective plate carrier vest with pouches containing plastic flex cuffs and what appeared to be a chemical spray, and a knife in a holster.
Edward “Jake” Lang, Newburgh
The FBI said Lang, 26, was recorded striking officers’ shields with a bat. On Jan. 7, the day after the riot, Lang posted to Twitter, according to the charging documents: “I watched a woman die yesterday in front of my eyes. I saved two others from being trampled and suffocated by Capitol Police. They murdered her and tried to murder many, many more. This is an act of war by TYRANTS against the American people.”
He was arrested 10 days after the riot; in December 2021, a prosecutor said Lang had turned down a plea deal with a sentence of up to 6½ years. He has been incarcerated since his arrest; after many delays, prosecutors asked that the trial begin Jan. 27. A judge dismissed the indictment on Tuesday.
Roberto Minuta, Newburgh
Minuta, the former owner of a tattoo parlor in Newburgh, was among four members of the Oath Keepers convicted on Jan. 23, 2023, of seditious conspiracy. He also was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties. Trump commuted his 4½-year sentence and he was released from a prison in Texas on Monday.
Minuta, then 37, was arrested in Newburgh on March 8, 2021. An FBI agent testified that he was at the Capitol “equipped with military-style attire and gear,” including ballistic goggles, a radio earpiece and radio, hard-knuckle tactical gloves, bear spray and apparel emblazoned with a crest related to the Oath Keepers. He “aggressively berated and taunted” officers before entering the building.
William Vogel, Pawling
The FBI said that Vogel, 27, recorded himself inside the Capitol and posted the video to Snapchat. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and was sentenced in June 2023 to 30 days in jail and three years of probation. He has since moved to Albany County.
Robert Ballesteros, Mahopac
Ballesteros, 28, posted a video on Instagram of himself inside the Capitol wearing a black mask. When asked online by another Instagram user if he had been inside, Ballesteros said he had “made my stand.” He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol and was sentenced in April 2022 to 36 months of probation and 40 hours of community service.
Robert Chapman, Carmel
Chapman, 51, drew the FBI’s attention after a person with whom he interacted through an online dating service alerted agents that he had written: “I did storm the Capitol. I made it all the way into Statuary Hall.” His potential date replied: “We are not a match.” He conceded: “I suppose not.” Chapman pleaded guilty to misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or picketing and in May 2022 was sentenced to 18 months of probation (including three months of electronic monitoring) and 60 hours of community service.
Anthony Vuksanaj, Mahopac
Vuksanaj, 52, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or picketing and was sentenced in April 2022 to three years of probation that included three imprisonments of 14 days each and three months of home confinement. An FBI agent said that police detained Vuksanaj on June 6, 2020, in connection to a robbery at knifepoint. He denied being involved but a search warrant revealed that his phone had been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the FBI said, and the agency received video clips that appear to show him inside the building.
I am appalled and horrified that the president decided to free all the convicted felons from the Jan. 6 insurrection without examining them on a case-by-case basis as he said he would. The consequences have yet to be seen, but every violent action taken by one of the insurrectionists is now on his head.
We need our congressman, Rep. Mike Lawler, to say loudly and forcefully that he does not support Trump’s decision to pardon violent felons and that the safety and security of his constituents in District 17 is his only concern.
No one should be surprised that a convicted felon pardoned other felons. 150 police officers were assaulted, many brutally beaten, while trying to protect and defend our Capitol. Anyone who rejects these facts and supports these pardons has buried their head in the sand. We are indeed living in a new reality.
I found it interesting that no Current ink was used to comment on President Biden’s blanket pardon of his son, his family, J-6 Lawfare Commission members, Dr. Fauci, a myriad of convicted criminals and others — all after Mr. Biden lied to the American people about issuing pardons.
President Trump made it known during the campaign that a pardon would be issued for the rioters. It’s nice to know that the double standard is still alive and well in the country.
As a local paper, we only cover pardons given to people who live nearby.
What about 2016? Remember that? After Trump won? How soon we forget. [via Facebook]
Way too much foul play on the Democrats’ side, even at the last minute — shameful. I’m sure they learned nothing. [via Facebook]
Appalling. The Capitol attacked and police officers violently assaulted, all to overturn a free and fair election. I guess democracy and “back the blue” mean nothing anymore. It’s embarrassing to the country and to the Hudson Valley, one of several cradles of democracy in this land. [via Facebook]
Why has Trump pardoned violent criminals who attacked, beat and injured Capitol and D.C. police on Jan. 6? I suspect it is because he wants a fascist goon squad at his beck and call. Trump repeatedly uses threats of all kinds (including not-so-veiled threats of violence) to get what he wants. If Congress members don’t vote his way, don’t vote to confirm his nominees for positions such as head of the FBI or Secretary of Defense, Trump threatens to have them primaried — and their primary opponent will be financed by the likes of Elon Musk, a bottomless pit of money.
Congress members are now reporting that they get death threats if they express opposition to Trump or a Trump position. Capitol police who have been brutalized and have testified at the House Jan. 6 investigative hearings (as well as all the committee members) get repeated death threats, to this day.
Having a Trump-adoring fascist violent goon squad pardoned and released from prison and in the general population serves Trump’s interest since they will be the first to call in threats of violence to members of Congress who don’t comply with Trump. And Trump knows it. Republican members of Congress have said they are afraid to vote against Trump interests because they fear violence against themselves and family members. Many say they have received death threats; Mitt Romney discusses this in his latest book. The Party of Law and Order has become a sort of sick joke. Back the Blue until you don’t!
Now that these violent felons (many of whom are sociopaths) have been released, they are making it clear that they want to exercise vengeance against those who testified against them. Capitol police are seeking orders of protection from the courts to keep these violent offenders away from them. Trump’s embracing of political violence to achieve his goals is the greatest threat to democracy that we have seen in my lifetime.
Trump is creating his own paramilitary organization of brown shirts, reminiscent of 1932-33 Germany. The election of Trump is leading to the normalization of domestic political violence emanating from the executive branch of government. We have never seen this before. Thanks to Trump, America is now heading down a very dark sick path. I know where Sens. Gillibrand and Schumer stand on this issue, but where does Rep. Mike Lawler stand? Is he OK with Trump pardoning violent felons who brutalized cops? If not he should publicly and loudly denounce Trump for doing so. I’m not holding my breath, because I believe Lawler is too cowardly to do so.
This just in: Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has reported that the nature, tone and quantity of death threats that he and his family receive have gotten darker and more frequent since Trump pardoned the violent rioters.
My family and I feel less safe knowing that convicted violent insurrectionists have been released, most likely into neighboring communities, without serving out their sentences or undergoing rehabilitation with the help of groups like Life After Hate. To add insult to injury, it appears that a few Current readers believe it is perfectly acceptable to trespass, invade and defile or destroy property without consequence or, at the very least, condemnation. Following the rule of law is a hallmark of a civil society.
Outstanding article. Will we ever learn?