A Missouri woman pardoned by President Trump after participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a drunken wrong-way crash that killed a mother of two celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary.
Emily Hernandez was arrested Jan. 5, 2022 for colliding with a car carrying Victoria and Ryan Wilson while she was on the wrong side of Interstate 44 west of St. Louis, according to local NBC affiliate KSDK.
Almost exactly a year earlier, she was photographed at the U.S. Capitol proudly showing off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s broken nameplate during the deadly uprising to stop the certification of Donald Trump’s electoral defeat.
Hernandez, 24, previously served 30 days in federal prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor trespassing charge related to the Jan. 6 riot. She pleaded guilty last November to two counts of driving while intoxicated in connection to the fatal car crash.
Her attorney asked the court for leniency on account of Hernandez being “extraordinarily remorseful” about the death of the 32-year-old woman she killed.
The collision also injured the victim’s husband, who was left unable to work, according to a GoFundMe setup to support the couple’s then-15 and 10-year-old sons.
After returning to power last week, Trump immediately offered a blanket pardon to supporters involved in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Hernandez joins a growing list of MAGA convicts who have found trouble waiting for them after Trump cleared them of their actions that day.
Indiana man Matthew Huttle was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop Sunday, just days after the 42-year-old was pardoned by the president. Police said Huttle was armed when he was killed.
Florida man Daniel Charles Ball was picked up on a gun charge one day after being released from a Washington, D.C. jail where he was awaiting trial, according to Spectrum Bay News 9 in Tampa. Along with wounding police with an explosive device while storming the Capitol, his criminal history includes a domestic violence charge and battery of a law enforcement officer.
Authorities are still searching for Capitol rioter Andrew Taake, 36, who was freed from a Colorado prison last week thanks to Trump. He’s wanted for soliciting a minor in Texas.