Amid confusion, Pa. officials worry about impact of paused federal funding freeze
A spokesperson for Chester County said its Department of Community Development is unable to access more than $13.3 million in federal funds.
1 week ago
Protesters hold flags with the 13 Colonies, also known as the Betsy Ross flag, as they are pushed back by police, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, after President Donald Trump supporters sieged the Capitol in Washington. The incident happened as Congress prepared to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, with thousands of people gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
This story originally appeared on NPR.
Editor’s Note: This story includes descriptions of violent crimes and sexual abuse involving both adults and children that may be disturbing to readers.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump granted clemency to every person charged or convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, even those convicted of violently assaulting police officers.
But Trump’s pardons and commutations for people he has called “patriots” did not wipe away certain defendants’ extensive criminal records or any other criminal charges they may be facing.
While many people had no criminal record prior to committing crimes on Jan. 6, NPR has identified dozens of defendants with prior convictions or pending charges for crimes including rape, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence, manslaughter, production of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.
One of those defendants, Matthew Huttle, was recently shot and killed by law enforcement in Indiana during a traffic stop just days after receiving a pardon for his role in the Capitol riot.
In 2023, Huttle pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds on Jan. 6, and received a sentence of six months in prison.
Huttle “has an extensive criminal history that demonstrates a pattern and practice of disrespecting and disobeying the rule of law, which is consistent with his actions on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors said.
In one incident, “Huttle spanked his 3-year-old son so hard that he left bruises all over the child’s backside and the child’s neck, and the child had such extreme pain on his backside that he could not sit properly for a week,” prosecutors said. “Huttle was sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment.”
Prosecutors also noted repeated arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Huttle’s defense attorney attributed his criminal record to a history of “extreme alcohol abuse.”
Even after Jan. 6, Huttle continued to rack up state charges in Indiana for driving offenses.
Less than a week after he received a pardon from Trump, Huttle was fatally shot in an altercation with a sheriff’s deputy, according to Indiana State Police.
Trump has defended his decision to give pardons and commutations to all of the defendants charged in connection with the violent Jan. 6 attack, by suggesting that evaluating all of the cases individually would have been too difficult.
“It would be very, very cumbersome to go and look – you know how many people we’re talking about? 1,500 people,” Trump told Fox News earlier this month.
He also said that the prison sentences for Jan. 6 defendants were excessive.
“These people have served, horribly, a long time,” he said in his Fox News interview.
Trump’s comments overlooked the role that the Jan. 6 defendants’ prior criminal records played in sentencing. Federal judges take that criminal history into account when deciding a criminal defendant’s sentence.
A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story.
If Trump had looked at individual cases, the long criminal records of some Jan. 6 defendants may have raised some red flags.
Theodore Middendorf was accused by Illinois prosecutors of “Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child.” Prosecutors said in a court filing obtained by NPR that Middendorf “committed an act of sexual penetration.” Indiana state records indicate that Middendorf’s victim was 7 years old.
Middendorf entered a guilty plea in that case in May 2024 and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He is currently registered as a sex offender in the state and remains in custody on those charges.
Separately, Middendorf pleaded guilty to destruction of government property for striking a window at the U.S. Capitol with a flagpole on Jan. 6. He had not yet been sentenced for his role in the Capitol riot when the Justice Department moved to dismiss his case following Trump’s order.
Peter Schwartz had a “jaw-dropping criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991” when he assaulted police officers with pepper spray on Jan. 6, according to federal prosecutors.
When those prosecutors made their sentencing recommendations to the judge, they described a 1994 disorderly conduct case for throwing a “lit cigarette at a victim” and striking her “near her eyes”; a 2004 case for assault with a deadly weapon; a 2019 case for “terroristic threats” for threatening police while under arrest for domestic assault; and a 2020 case of assaulting his wife “including by biting her on the forehead and punching her multiple times.”
Given that history, prosecutors said, “The only reliable method of protecting the community from Schwartz in the future is to remove him from the community for as long as possible.”
Federal judge Amit Mehta gave Schwartz one of the toughest prison sentences stemming from the Capitol riot — more than 14 years.
Less than four years after Schwartz’s arrest, Trump’s pardon freed him from prison.
Trump’s pardons apply only to people “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
As a result, some Jan. 6 defendants are still facing criminal charges from other alleged incidents.
David Daniel of Mint Hill, N.C., is charged with “Production of Child Pornography” and “Possession of Child Pornography,” which allegedly “involved a prepubescent minor” and a child under 12 years old.
“The government’s forecast of evidence is compelling and suggests Defendant engaged in sexual acts with two young girls in his own family,” Magistrate Judge David Keesler wrote of the case against Daniel. “It is also alleged he took and kept photos of the genitalia of the victims. The mother of one victim (Defendant’s ex−wife) appeared in court to request that Defendant not be released.” Because of those findings, Judge Keesler ordered Daniel to remain in detention pending trial. Daniel has pleaded not guilty to the charges in North Carolina and that case remains pending.
Separately, Daniel pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting police officers on Jan. 6, but he had not yet been sentenced. Trump’s Department of Justice dismissed that case.
He is not the only defendant facing ongoing criminal charges.
Arrest warrant records alleged that Daniel Ball of Florida threw an “explosive device that detonated upon at least 25 officers” during the Capitol riot and also “forcefully” shoved police trying to protect the building. According to charging documents, Ball had a criminal record before his arrest for Jan. 6, including for “Domestic Violence Battery by Strangulation,” “Resisting Law Enforcement with Violence,” and “Battery on Law Enforcement Officer.”
When federal agents arrested Ball on the Jan. 6 charges, they discovered that he was also in possession of a gun and ammunition, which was illegal given his criminal history, according to prosecutors. In addition to the Jan. 6 charges, a grand jury in Florida handed down a separate indictment against Ball in August 2024 for “Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.”
Ball pleaded not guilty to his Capitol riot charges and the Department of Justice, following Trump’s order, dismissed his case. But Trump’s pardon did not resolve his gun case. On Jan. 22, Ball was rearrested on the Florida gun charges. That case remains pending, and Ball has pleaded not guilty.