William Todd Wilson

Case Summary

William Todd Wilson is the third member of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government extremist group, to plead guilty to a charge of seditious conspiracy and agree to cooperate with the government's investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Wilson was a county-level leader of the Oath Keepers based in North Carolina, and he conspired with other members of the group to "oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power," according to a statement of offense Wilson signed and submitted in federal court as part of his guilty plea. In the days and weeks after the November 2020 presidential election, Wilson exchanged messages with other members of the Oath Keepers about how they believed Joe Biden had stolen the election and, as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes allegedly put it in one message, "we aren't getting through this without a civil war." On Jan. 5, 2021, Wilson drove from North Carolina to a hotel in Vienna, Va., which is near Washington, D.C., and brought with him an "AR-15-style rifle, a 9-millimeter pistol, approximately 200 rounds of ammunition, body armor, a camouflaged combat uniform, pepper spray, a large walking stick intended for use as a weapon, and a pocketknife," court documents state. Some members of the Oath Keepers allegedly remained at the hotel with a stash of weapons in order to act as a "Quick Reaction Force" that could bring arms into D.C. "in case of worst case scenarios," as Rhodes reportedly wrote in one message. On the day of the riot, Wilson breached the Capitol and helped force open doors to the building's rotunda, according to court documents. Prosecutors allege that at least 14 Oath Keepers breached the Capitol. Wilson left the building and later that evening gathered with Rhodes and other Oath Keepers at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. At one point, court documents state, Rhodes called an unidentified person via speakerphone and "repeatedly implore[d] the individual to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power." The person "denied Rhodes's request to speak directly with President Trump," according to court documents, which do not state what relationship that person may have had to Trump. Afterward, members of the group reportedly had dinner at an Olive Garden restaurant and discussed the possibility of taking further actions to fight the transfer of power. In the days after Jan. 6, Wilson deleted messages and information about the alleged plot and threw his cellphone into the Atlantic Ocean. According to a sentencing memo filed by the defendant in court, Wilson served as a police officer in a small eastern North Carolina town before joining the U.S. Army, where he served for four years.

Case History

Wilson pleaded Guilty to both charges. Sentenced on 12/18/2024 to probation for 36 months; restitution of $2,000; special assessment of $200. Wilson 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.