MAGA Florida man Andrew Paul Johnson, who President Donald Trump pardoned for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison after being convicted of molesting two children in Hernando County, Florida.
Johnson, 45, was found guilty last month of two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor. Circuit Judge Stephen Toner imposed the sentence.
This case linked a well-known federal pardon to a separate state prosecution that moved forward in a Florida court. Trump pardoned Johnson as part of a broad clemency action he issued after returning to the White House, covering more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack. Johnson was among several former January 6 defendants who later faced new criminal charges.
Sheriff’s deputies began investigating Johnson in July 2025 after one of the victims’ mothers discovered messages he had sent on Discord, according to reports on the case and statements from prosecutors. Investigators said one victim reported that the abuse began around April 2024, months before Johnson was sentenced in his Capitol riot case. NPR noted that one child was 11 years old at the time of the abuse.
According to a sheriff’s office report cited by AP, Johnson told one victim he expected compensation as a pardoned January 6 defendant and claimed he would leave the child money in his will. Investigators believed this was an attempt to prevent the child from disclosing what had happened.
“I’M SORRY, MAN”: A Hernando County handyman was sentenced to life in prison for molesting two children. He was convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 but was pardoned by President Donald Trump. https://t.co/q6oYZwbD8i pic.twitter.com/uUUUSxx1cq
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 5, 2026
Prosecutors also said Johnson tried to move conversations to a more private app and encouraged the victim to delete messages. “In the messages, Johnson attempted to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraged the victim to delete their messages afterwards,” said State Attorney Bill Gladson’s office in a news release quoted by AP.
Before the child molestation case, Johnson had already been convicted in federal court for his actions during the Capitol riot. He pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges, and Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg sentenced him in August 2024 to one year in prison.
Federal prosecutors stated that Johnson attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, marched to the Capitol with a bullhorn, entered the building through a broken office window, and shouted at police as officers used tear gas to push back the mob.
NPR reported that prosecutors in Florida initially brought six charges against Johnson. A Hernando County jury convicted him on five of them in February, including charges involving two children, and acquitted him of one count related to sending sexual material to a child.
By the time of Thursday’s sentencing, the remaining convictions were enough to expose him to a life term, which the judge ultimately imposed.
Johnson’s sentencing closes one criminal case while adding to the growing record of post-pardon arrests and convictions involving some January 6 defendants. In Johnson’s case, the underlying abuse began before his pardon and before his federal Capitol riot sentence was complete, according to the investigators’ timeline. The state sentence now ensures he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
