Pardoned J6 Defendant Sentenced to Life in Prison for a Plot

Edward Kelley, 36, of Maryville, Tennessee, was sentenced to life in prison in the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville this week.

On Nov. 20, 2024, following a three-day jury trial, Kelley was convicted of conspiracy to murder federal employees; solicitation to commit a crime of violence; and influencing a federal official by threat.

Edward Kelley, a decorated Marine and father of two young children, will spend the rest of his life in prison for threats he made. He didn’t act on his threats, and claimed he was blowing off steam on encrypted apps.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Kelley developed a plan to murder law enforcement, including agents, officers, and employees of the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Maryville Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, and Clinton Police Department. The evidence showed that Kelley developed a “kill list” of law enforcement and distributed the list – along with videos containing images of his targets – to a co-conspirator as part of his “mission.”

They had a cooperating defendant

A cooperating defendant, the co-conspirator, who previously pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy, testified that he and Kelley planned attacks on the Knoxville FBI office using car bombs and incendiary devices appended to drones. He also testified that the conspirators strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters.

He didn’t get to the point of making any bombs or buying any weapons.

At trial, the United States introduced recordings of the defendant calling for the development of a “course of action” related to his plan. In one such recording, the defendant gave the instructions to, among other things, “start it,” “attack,” and “take out their office” in the event of his arrest. Kelley was recorded stating, “You don’t have time to train or coordinate, but every hit has to hurt,” and “Every hit has to hurt.”

The DoJ had a cooperating defendant who pleaded guilty.

Kelley was angry that his home had been raided in 2022 after serving a January 6th-related sentence for shoving a police officer.

After the FBI raid, and he was released from prison, Kelley was angry that he was being continually harassed and surveilled by federal authorities.

This is Edward Kelly’s statement.