Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 32
- Location
- Hammond, Indiana
- Charges
- Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Federal prosecutors allege that Kash Lee Kelly posted a picture of himself on Facebook from inside the Capitol during the rioting. He added this caption, according to court documents: "The day we let the Traitors who constantly push the divide in OUR country know that we are done playing their games. All ppl of all colors came together today and I couldn’t be more proud to be an AMERICAN." Screenshots of that Facebook post and others reached "law enforcement agents who have known Kelly for several years," prosecutors say. That appears to be a reference to an earlier federal criminal case against Kelly. In 2017, Kelly pleaded guilty to drug charges related to his involvement with the gang known as the Latin Kings. At a plea hearing, Kelly testified, "I started selling marijuana because we didn't have anything. I started selling marijuana to make sure that my sister and I had food and to pay the light bill and stuff like that." He said that he joined the Latin Kings in 2006, when he was a teenager, and regularly sold marijuana with the gang until about 2009. Prosecutors described Kelly as an "enforcer" with the gang, and Kelly testified that, at one point, he committed a "home invasion" to try to "rob" people who he thought had marijuana. Kelly had not yet been sentenced in that case, and his alleged actions in the Capitol riot may now affect the outcome. Kelly has been a vocal Trump supporter and shared debunked conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election. After the rioting, he appeared in YouTube videos and appeared to be unapologetic about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, saying they were "very patriotic."
Case History
Kelly pleaded Guilty to the charge. Sentenced on 11/10/2022 to 60 Days of Incarceration, 30 days to run consecutively to any other sentence and 30 days to run concurrently to any other sentence; Restitution of $500 and $10 Special Assessment. Kelly received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.