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A man who received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of multiple child molestation charges in Florida, prosecutors said.
Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, was sentenced to life in prison after a jury last month convicted him on five counts, including molesting a child under the age of 12, molesting a child under 16, and transmitting harmful material to a minor using an electronic device.
The sentence was announced by the office of Bill Gladson, the state attorney for Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit.
Johnson had been arrested in August — roughly nine months after Trump granted pardons to hundreds of defendants tied to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The sweeping pardons covered a range of offenses, from misdemeanor trespassing to felony crimes including assaults on police officers.
Arrest came months after presidential pardon
Prosecutors said Johnson used the promise of future money tied to his pardon as part of his manipulation of one of the victims.
According to law enforcement, Johnson told the victim he expected to receive a financial windfall from the government as a result of the pardon and claimed he would place the victim in his will to receive any remaining funds.
Trump and some allies have previously discussed the possibility of taxpayer-funded compensation for individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.
The federal government has already paid nearly $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol Police officer as she attempted to climb through a broken window leading into the House Speaker’s Lobby during the attack.
Other Jan. 6 defendants facing new criminal cases
Johnson’s case is one of several recent incidents involving individuals previously charged in the Capitol riot who have been arrested again for unrelated alleged crimes.
Earlier this week, Bryan Betancur, another Jan. 6 defendant, was arrested in connection with an assault and battery incident aboard a train operated by the Washington Metro system. Videos circulating online appeared to show Betancur touching women’s hair without their consent.
In a separate case over the weekend, authorities arrested another defendant linked to the Capitol attack on suspicion of threatening one of the police officers who defended the building on Jan. 6.
The developments highlight the continued legal fallout from the attack on the Capitol, even as many of the original federal cases have concluded through trials, plea deals or presidential pardons.
