A Montague County couple was among about 1,500 people offered pardons by President Donald Trump for convictions related to their actions Jan. 6, 2021, on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Mark Middleton and Jalise Middleton of Forestburg were released from federal prison on Monday, according to Bureau of Federal prison records.
The Middletons were convicted after a jury trial in April 2021 of attacking officers who were trying to hold rioters back from the Capitol, federal court records show.
The Middletons were caught on body-camera footage struggling with police and used social media to brag about fighting with police, according to court documents.
Trump commuted the prison sentences of 14 people and offered in a proclamation Monday to grant “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
The Times Record News reached out to the Middletons for comment on their experiences but was not able to interview them before deadline on Thursday.
Mark Middleton and Jalise Middleton were sentenced to 30 months and 20 months in prison, respectively, by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Oct. 23, 2024. Mark Middleton was additionally sentenced to 36 months’ supervised release and a $2,000 fine. Jalise Middleton was additionally sentenced to 30 months’ supervised release and a $2,000 fine.
A Dec. 5 post on her Facebook page said she was “ordered to report for duty” at FMC Carswell in Fort Worth on Dec. 17.
“See yall on the other side,” the post said.
Part of the federal prison system, the facility is a federal medical center for female inmates and has an adjacent minimum security satellite camp, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
FMC Carswell has 1,282 total inmates, including 1,145 at the medical center and 137 at the camp. It is sited on Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, formerly Carswell Air Force Base.
Jalise Middle was sentenced to prison “for praying at the capitol barricades,” the Dec. 5 Facebook post said.
“ANOTHER DANGEROUS GRANDMA TAKEN OFF THE STREETS-God help this satanic regime!!” the post said.
Among those whose sentences were commuted was Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “one of the largest far-right antigovernment groups in the U.S. today.”
Rhodes visited Wichita Falls in June 2021 to speak to listeners about his beliefs. In addition, he gave TRN an interview about his view of the events of Jan. 6 and of Trump at the time. The FBI arrested him in January 2022 for a charge of seditious conspiracy.
The president’s proclamation ends “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,” according to the statement from the White House.
More:Confined to home detention, Montague couple blames social media for Jan. 6 convictions
More:Oath Keepers founder who spoke in Wichita Falls arrested Thursday by FBI agents
Trish Choate, executive editor of the Times Record News, contributed to this report.
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