How Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 protesters affects two convictions with ties to Fresno
Two Fresno-area men who had been convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington D.C. will not benefit from pardons handed down this week by President Donald Trump — at least not immediately.
Benjamin Martin, 46, of Madera, and Ricky Willden, 43, of Oakhurst, were sentenced for their actions in separate confrontations with Capitol police.
Trump signed a bill on Monday that pardoned about 1,500 people across the country convicted or charged in connection with the 2021 insurrection during a joint session of Congress to try to stop the certification of votes confirming Joe Biden as President of the United States.
Willden was sentenced to two years in prison after taking a plea deal in August of 2022, and was no longer in custody as of March 2024, according to records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Martin’s fate was less clear. He was scheduled to report to prison on Wednesday and officials would need some time to determine how long he would be required to be in custody, according to Heather E. Williams, the federal public defender for the Eastern District of California.
Williams said because Martin was sentenced for a charge not related to the melee at the Capitol — possessing a gun with a misdemeanor domestic violence history — he still faces a sentence of at least three years and two months.
It was not immediately clear if he was eligible for a pardon for a six-month sentence related to civil disobedience at the Capitol. “We may not know about this for a while,” Williams told The Bee in an email.
The convictions
Martin was convicted in a 2018 incident in which he choked his then-girlfriend and dragged her into a home as she tried to flee, prosecutors said. He was prohibited from possessing a gun after that conviction, but investigators discovered weapons in his home following the arrest over the riot at the Capitol.
The FBI found eight firearms, including an AR‑15‑style rifle, multiple high-capacity magazines for that rifle, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.
Martin was sentenced to six months to run concurrently with the other conviction for felony offenses of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding along with several misdemeanors during a scuffle with Capitol police as he and others forced their way into the Capitol.
A self-identified Proud Boy, Willden agreed to plead guilty to assaulting an officer, and prosecutors agreed to dismiss the other seven charges he faced.
Investigators have said Willden can be seen in surveillance video in a crowd near the east door of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wearing a dark jacket, beanie cap and gloves, and cheering as the doors to the Capitol opened.
He was then recorded spraying a green substance at police, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 11:14 AM.
