January 6 protester pardoned by Trump convicted of ‘collecting child pornography’
The man who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his actions on Jan. 6. convicted of possessing more than 100,000 child sexual abuse images and videos obtained in connection with his Capitol riot case.
Daniel Tocci was sentenced to four years in prison by US District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni for the District of Massachusetts after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, according to a Justice Department news release on Monday that did not mention the Jan. 6 link. Tocci was due to go on trial Jan. 6 early last year, but was overturned after Trump acquitted many of the approximately 1,500 defendants arrested in the Capitol attack.
Federal prosecutors wrote in the sentencing letter in the child pornography case that, in addition to material that sexually abused children, Tocci’s laptop “contained very disturbing images of acts of violence, such as a cat being killed by being put in a container, a man shooting a woman in the head, a dog being beaten to death, and having its head and body parts cut off and very good videos.”
Before he pleaded guilty in September, Tocci’s attorney had argued that the child sexual abuse charge be dropped because “all the evidence” came from the January 6 acquittal.
“The case against Mr. Tocci must be dismissed because the overwhelming evidence comes from a warrant that, according to President Trump, should never have been issued,” Tocci’s lawyer wrote in July. “President Trump has seen the continuing injustice of Mr. Tocci, as the investigation unfolded over four years, and the instant case is still being prosecuted.”
The Justice Department did not respond to the request before Tocci’s attorney withdrew it before the hearing.
During Trump’s second term, the Justice Department took a different approach to whether evidence taken during the January 6 investigation could be used to prosecute other crimes, arguing that gun crimes cases should be dismissed but not child pornography cases like Tocci’s. Last year, Trump also pardoned the accused Jan. 6 Dan Wilson on a gun charge stemming from his Capitol siege case.
The Justice Department also argued that Trump’s Jan. 6 didn’t work in a Capitol protester’s plan to kill FBI agents investigating him, which led to him being sentenced to life in prison.
Brian Cole Jr., who was charged in connection with the pipe bombs left outside the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the January 6 attack, also indicated that Trump’s pardon must apply to his behavior. Justice Department lawyers this week asked for more time to respond to Cole’s argument about Trump’s pardon.
Former January 6 defendant Andrew Paul Johnson was sentenced to life in prison this month after being convicted of child sex offenses. Law enforcement officials say Johnson used the promise of money he said he would receive on Jan. 6 in a deal with the Department of Justice – which has yet to happen – to silence one of his victims. Trump has floated the idea of compensating the January 6 rebels, but no one has received the payments.
