Two from Valley released from prison after Trump issues January 6 pardons
Both of the people from the Valley who were still imprisoned when President Trump pardoned those convicted for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have been released.
According to Bureau of Prison records, 44-year-old Rachel Powell of Sandy Lake, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and 42-year-old Kenneth Thomas of East Liverpool, were no longer in custody as of Tuesday.
Both are among nine Valley residents pardoned by President Trump for the January 6, 2021, Capitol incursion.
Calling the arrests “a grave national injustice”, President Trump said in a proclamation that he is commuting the sentences of 14 of those convicted, and pardoning all others charged in connection with the Capitol incursion. The declaration takes effect immediately.
Thomas was serving a 58-month sentence for seven counts that included four separate counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; and engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct on Capitol grounds.
Investigators say Thomas led assaults on five officers during an incursion at the Capitol, while Congress was certifying Joseph Biden as the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election.
Thomas, who received a longer prison term than the other eight local defendants, would have completed his sentence in November 2027.
Powell had been serving a 57-month sentence.
"He's [Trump] put my family back together again," she said to media on Tuesday in Washington D.C. "Without him, I wouldn't be out right now."
Powell, often called the 'pink hat lady' or 'bullhorn lady', would have completed her sentence in September 2027.
"When the police became violent and everything started getting out of control, I wish we all would have just sat down," Powell said. "We just had MLK Day. Why didn't we all just sit down? That's a regret."
Trump has also directed the Attorney General to dismiss still-pending cases against those such as Joseph Vaglica of Youngstown, who investigators say was recorded on video in the Capitol's Senate Wing, the Crypt to a conference room, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, near the Rotunda Doors and on the second floor of the House side of the building.
When the pardon was issued, Vaglica’s court case was still pending on charges of knowingly entering or remaining a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct, entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol Building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.
"A lot of people like myself never saw any violence and law enforcement didn't tell us to leave," Vaglica said to 21 News on Tuesday. "It was a slow line walking into the Capitol and I thought it was all a part of the events."
Vaglica told 21 News that his lawyer had contacted him Monday evening and told him the case had been dropped.
"I want to thank President Trump for his actions," Vaglica added. "He didn't have to go through what he went through and he fought a lot for America."
"I dont condone the violence," Vaglica added. "I had no idea that this was considered a riot. I saw peace."
Vaglica told 21 News a friend of his from California had his trial scheduled for Tuesday but it was dismissed following Trump's pardoning.
Six other people from the Valley are being pardoned including Michael Scott Lockwood of Southington, who completed a one-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.
Two people from New Castle, Phillip Vogel II and Debra Maimone were convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of U.S. property.
Vogel II was sentenced to 30 days in jail followed by one year of supervised release. Maimone was sentenced to two years’ probation. Each was ordered to make $1,806 restitution.
Brian and Julia Sizer of Ellwood City were both placed on probation for a year for entering the Capitol during the disturbance.
Stephen Ayres of Champion, who made national headlines when he testified before the House select committee hearing into the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to entering the temporary residence of the president and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.
Ayre’s companion that day at the Capitol, Matthew Perna of Sharpsville, pleaded guilty to witness tampering, disorderly conduct, and two counts of entering a restricted building or grounds. Perna took his own life before he could be sentenced.
