SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping pardons for defendants charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has brought a tide of relief and joy, including for two San Diego-area residents. The pardons have significant implications for their legal battles and personal lives.
Jordan Berk, a Point Loma resident, expressed his joy upon learning of the pardons.
“I would say it went something along those lines of, ‘Yeah!” Berk exclaimed. “I don’t think this was needed for vindication, but yes it is.”
When I first spoke with Berk in early January, he was a few weeks into a two-month home confinement sentence after pleading guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building during the Capitol riot.
His sentence also included two years of probation.
The charges led to him losing his job at a financial services company.
Following the news of his pardon, Berk says his lawyer confirmed his home confinement has ended; however, he acknowledged that the arrest and possibly some details of the conviction will remain on his record.
“I’m free,” he remarked. “Who wouldn’t be pleased to say they were doing a sentence, and then, they get pardoned? If I apply for whatever, I can obviously say I’ve been pardoned.”
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El Cajon resident David Gary experienced a slightly different outcome.
Gary recently reached a plea deal for a similar federal misdemeanor charge, and he, along with his wife Patty, expressed their excitement at the airport before a scheduled flight to Washington, D.C., for a Thursday sentencing hearing that may no longer take place.
“He kept his word, he kept his word, and I’m very happy about that,” David said in reference to Trump’s decision on the pardons.
Following the announcement, Gary’s lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the charges. Once signed by the judge, Gary has been informed that, since the pardon was issued before his sentencing, both the charges and the case will be dropped.
Patty Gary shared her emotional response: “We became very emotional, very thankful. We were so happy, such a burden taken off of our shoulders, knowing that our prayers were basically answered.”
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