SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has denied a motion by one of Utah's Jan. 6 defendants to recover more than $62,000 that was seized from him after the 2021 Capitol riot.
John Sullivan made that money by selling footage of the riot to news outlets.
Even though President Donald Trump pardoned Sullivan and all the Jan. 6 defendants on his first day back in office, the judge said the law does not allow Sullivan to regain the money.
The judge used his ruling to criticize Sullivan, saying he “cynically” claimed to be a journalist while engaging in offenses at the Capitol.
A jury convicted Sullivan of seven counts in 2023. They included three charges related to carrying a weapon — a knife — and counts accusing him of interrupting Congress as it voted to certify the U.S. presidential election.
Then, just over a year ago, a federal judge sentenced him to six years in prison.
