Robert Ciottoni of Willow Grove, who was arrested on March 8, 2024 in Philadelphia for illegally entering and disrupting the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported today.

Earlier this month, the Inquirer wrote that Ciottoni’s attorney asked federal judges to delay his trial, scheduled to begin later this month, due to Trump’s forthcoming inauguration.

“To proceed with this trial under the shadow of these political realities would not only risk rendering the process moot, but would also squander the limited resources of this [c]ourt and the Department of Justice,” Ciottoni’s attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Jonathan McDonald, wrote in court documents.

Judges denied the request, but because Ciottoni agreed to have his case heard by a judge, and not a jury, the first date of his trial was pushed to January 23. 

President Trump promised to pardon many January 6 defendants immediately after swearing in.

“The pardons are a culmination of Trump’s yearslong campaign to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 attack, which left more than 100 police officers injured as the angry mob of Trump supporters — some armed with poles, bats and bear spray — overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows and sent lawmakers and aides running into hiding,” the AP wrote. “While pardons were expected, the speed and the scope of the clemency amounted to a stunning dismantling of the Justice Department’s effort to hold participants accountable over what has been described as one of the darkest days in the country’s history.”

Trials involving other local defendants are currently scheduled to occur through the spring and as late as July, The Inquirer said. You can read our previous coverage on Ciottoni’s arrest here.

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Screengrabs taken from Robert Ciottoni’s Complaint and Statement of Facts via the U.S. Attorney’s Office website