They may have gotten pardons from the Felon in Chief, but they'll always be our little putschists

As he promised, one of 47's first orders of business was to issue pardons or commutations for all the people who, at his direction, tried to overthrow the government of the United States on Jan. 6, 2021. Among the failed insurrectionists were several people from Massachusetts, three of whom got lucky because they'll never spend any time in prison - two because their cases were still on appeal, the other because he was arrested so late in the process the judge never got around to sentencing him.

The Nazi-adjacent Army vet and noted straight guy

Mark Sahady of Malden proves nothing works like delay: Although Sahady, who along with fellow insurrectionist Sue Ianni of Natick, organized buses from here to DC on Jan. 5, was one of the first locals to be arrested - just 13 days after the failed putsch - he kept firing his lawyers, which kept delaying his trial.

He finally came to trial, before a judge, rather than a jury, in August, 2023. The judge found him guilty on charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and then, in November, sentenced him to five months in federal prison. He appealed and federal Bureau of Prisons records show he is not one of its guests.

The judge in his case found him guilty after hearing evidence that Sahady spent part of his time in and near the Capitol in a paroxysm of joy, screaming "YEAH! FUCK YEAH! FUCK YEAH! PATRIOTS YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"

Before getting involved with an attempted coup attempt, Sahady was an organizer of pro-Trump, anti-LGBTQ marches and rallies in Boston that he said he did not invite Nazis to but they just kept showing up.

The man whose townspeople couldn't wait to turn him in

In contrast to Sahady, Vincent Gillespie of Athol has been locked up at FCI-Fort Dix in New Jersey since April 2023, when a judge sentenced him to 68 months in prison for his actions at the Capitol, which included ramming cops with their own riot shields, pulling one of the cops towards the surging mob as another protester beat him with a crutch and screaming at the police in his way that they were traitors. A jury convicted him in December, 2022.

Gillespie, you may recall, was the guy turned in by his own townspeople, including a former neighbor, a manager at the hardware store he shopped at and three municipal workers for Athol - a town he railed against for installing parking meters downtown. He was arrested on Feb. 18, 2021.

Ex-cop with a chair

Joseph Fisher, a retired Boston Police K9 officer from Plymouth, is currently an inmate of the low-security FCI Allenwood in Pennsylvania. A federal judge sentenced him last May to 20 months in prison after he pled guilty to, among other things, using a chair to try to obstruct a Capitol Police officer who was chasing another insurrectionist who had sprayed cops with mace.

The yoga instructor from Somerville

The pardons come too late to spring Noah Bacon of Somerville from prison - he finished his year-long federal sentence at Fort Dix on May 8 of last year. A federal judge in July, 2023 sentenced him after a jury had convicted him four months earlier of obstruction of an official proceeding and on misdemeanor charges of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building, entering and remaining in the gallery of either House of Congress, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Prosecutors say the Somerville resident decided to travel to Washington for Jan. 6 after "a frustrated attempt to organize a meditation retreat" - and entered the Senate chambers at 2:15 p.m., not long after the initial breach of the Capitol, then joined the mob chanting "Nancy, Nancy, Nancy" as it made its way up to the second floor and around the Capitol.

The grocer from Fall River

This past October, a federal judge in Washington convicted Michael St. Pierre of Fall River on four counts - one a felony - for throwing a flagpole topper at police and using a bullhorn to encourage other insurrectionists inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, after first videoing himself exclaiming that he'd like to "grab Nancy Pelosi by the hair and fucking twirl her around." But St. Pierre had yet to be sentenced; in fact, he was scheduled for a hearing this Friday on a motion that the judge throw out the charges.

The Natick Town Meeting member

On Dec. 12, 2022, Sue Ianni of Natick was sentenced to 15 days in federal prison because she was captured on video, along with Sahady, of wandering around the Capitol after other Vanilla Isis participants broke into the building. Ianni helped organize buses to Washington for Massachusetts insurrectionists.

The angry gynecologist

This past September, a federal judge sentenced Dr. Jacquelyn Starer of Ashland, who specialized in both gynecology and addiction treatment, to nine months in prison for not just storming into the Capitol back on Jan. 6, 2021 but for punching a DC cop in the head, cursing her and riling up other putschists in the Rotunda. She currently resides at FMC Carswell, a prison medical facility in Ft. Worth, TX, not so she can practice medicine but to receive care for her own medical problems, which include substance abuse.

The Columbus fan from Framingham

Thomas Method of Framingham was only arrested in February, 2024, based in part on videos he posted on TikTok drom his drive down to DC for the coup attempt.

His lawyer and prosecutors filed a plea deal in which he would plea guilty to entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, both misdemeanors, and prosecutors would recommend no more than six months in prison. The judge in the case, however, had yet to set a date for sentencing.