A Jan. 6 defendant pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol attack was sentenced to life in prison for child molestation and related crimes.
Andrew Paul Johnson was arrested in August, nine months after Trump pardoned him and hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants for crimes ranging from low-level misdemeanors to felony charges like assaulting officer with deadly weapons.
Johnson was convicted last month of five charges including molesting a child under 12 and another under 16, as well as lewd and lascivious exhibition and transmitting harmful materials by electronic device to a minor.
Johnson, 45, has now been sentenced to life, according to the Office of State Attorney Bill Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Florida.
Johnson told one of the victims that he would see a windfall from the government after his pardon, and that he would put the victim in his will to take any leftover money, according to law enforcement.
Trump has discussed the possibility of taxpayer-funded payouts for Jan. 6 defendants, The Justice Department already gave out just under $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot as she jumped through a broken window leading into the House Speaker’s gallery.
Earlier this week, Jan. 6 defendant Bryan Betancur was arrested in connection with an assault and battery that occurred aboard a Metro train after videos surfaced online that appeared to show him touching women’s hair.
Over the weekend, another Jan. 6 defendant was arrested for allegedly threatening one of the officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6.
