After fighting attempts to overturn his conviction, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department now wants a Jan. 6 defendant who was found guilty last year of plotting to kill FBI agents to spend the rest of his life in prison, citing “scandalous and unsubstantiated” claims and “uncharged allegations that have no relevance.”
Following a three-day trial, Edward Kelley, 35, was convicted by a federal jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee last November of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a violent crime, and influencing a federal official through threat. The government filed its sentencing memorandum on Tuesday and recommended life in prison, calling Kelley’s criminal conduct “unquestionably serious,” according to the filing.
“The defendant is remorseless,” the DOJ alleged.
“From even before the instant offenses of conviction, through his commission of these crimes, up until and after trial, the defendant’s conduct demonstrates a fundamental absence of remorse, a commitment to continuing his criminal behavior once released from prison, disrespect for the rule of law, and a profound need for deterrence,” the prosecution argued. “Beyond simply refusing to accept responsibility for his own criminal behavior, the Defendant believes he is the victim of a crime allegedly committed by the FBI, the United States, the trial witnesses, the jury, and this Court. Rather than expressing a desire to rehabilitate himself, he appears to take pride in his crimes.”
Mark Brown, Kelley’s attorney, filed a response on Wednesday.
“The unsubstantiated and uncharged allegations referenced therein place Kelley in a false light and should not be part of the record in this case,” according to Brown.
Kelley, a Maryville resident, attempted to argue earlier this year that his federal murder plot case and conviction in the Volunteer State were “related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” according to court documents. On January 27, one week after Trump’s executive order pardoning alleged rioters, he filed a motion to dismiss his indictment and vacate his jury convictions. The DOJ urged U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan to uphold Kelley’s conviction, describing his claims as “wrong” and Kelley himself as having “no authority supporting his position.”
In March, Varlan, a George W. Bush appointee, agreed with the DOJ and rejected Kelley’s court bid to have his murder plot conviction covered by Trump’s pardon, stating that “none of the substantive offenses or charging provisions overlap” in the way Kelley claimed in filings.
“Motivated by a desire to initiate a civil war and to retaliate for his previous arrest, Kelley was committed to executing his plan,” the United States Attorney’s Office stated Tuesday. “[Kelley] took steps to obtain weapons and ammunition.” Although he claims to have given his weapons and ammunition to a friend, the evidence in the case demonstrates his efforts to ensure access to his arsenal in order to carry out his plan.”
Kelley was found guilty of three felonies — civil disorder, destruction of government property in excess of $1,000, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers — after storming the Capitol and attacking a police officer on January 6.
Evidence presented at a separate trial in Knoxville, Tennessee, revealed that he “developed a plan to murder law enforcement” while his January 6 charges and trial were pending. Prosecutors claim Kelley created a “kill list” of FBI agents and employees investigating him and his Jan. 6 actions, which he then distributed to “conspirators,” along with images of the targets. They explained how Kelley planned “assassination missions” for each of his targets and discussed them with others.
“Beginning with a comparison of defendant’s substantive offenses, there is no overlap whatsoever between the indictments in the D.C. and Tennessee Cases with respect to charging statutes or substantive conduct alleged,” Varlan wrote in his March decision. “Neither the substantive offenses nor the charging provisions overlap. Furthermore, counsel for both parties did not attempt to link these unrelated substantive offenses during trial.”
Varlan stated that when determining whether Kelley’s Tennessee case fell under Trump’s blanket pardon, he considered “relations of time and place” as well as “other potential relations.” He determined that the case “lacks a sufficient causal connection” to the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, “for the purposes of the pardon” — noting that Trump’s order “situates” related events as being within the “physical vicinity” of the Capitol.
“These crimes are serious and undeniably dangerous,” the government declared Tuesday. “He continues to believe he was justified in targeting East Tennessee law enforcement for assassination and was duty-bound as a self-proclaimed patriot to do so.”
