141 days after President Trump’s pardon, Jan. 6 defendant Elias Nick Costianes Jr. released from prison

One hundred and forty-one days after he was pardoned on Jan. 6 criminal charges by President Donald J. Trump, Elias Nick Costianes Jr. has finally been ordered to be released from prison on bond by Senior U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar.

Costianes was originally denied post-pardon freedom because Judge Bredar — a 2010 appointee of President Barack Obama — ruled that some of the charges stemming from a Jan. 6-related FBI search of Costianes’ Maryland home were not covered by Trump’s Jan. 20 pardon declaration.

Judge Bredar ruled that the pardon declaration did not apply to the 2022 federal charges that were lodged against Costianes in the District of Maryland. In a June 6, 2025, memorandum and order, Judge Bredar granted a Rule 48 motion from the U.S. Department of Justice to dismiss the Maryland indictment against Costianes. He stayed that order for 45 days.

“As the Court previously explained, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) provides that "[t]he government may, with leave of court, dismiss an indictment, information, or complaint,” Bredar wrote. “… The Court’s discretion in the Rule 48 context is very limited, and it 'must grant the [Rule 48(a)] motion absent a finding of bad faith or disservice to the public interest.'"

Emergency motion filed

Costianes’ defense attorney, Carolyn Stewart, filed an emergency motion for reconsideration, seeking her client’s immediate release on his own recognizance. That motion was granted on June 10, and Judge Bredar set conditions of release.

Stewart walked out of the Edward A. Garmatz Federal Building and United States Courthouse with her freed client just before 3 p.m. on June 10.

"The hearing was fair and run professionally by the judge — court proceedings as all should expect in the justice system," Stewart told Blaze News. "The U.S. Marshals here in Baltimore also have been extremely professional and helpful. The 2.5-hour holdup has been waiting on the Bureau of Prisons to do release paperwork. Many thanks to those who prayed."

Costianes had been detained in the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown.

Costianes, 46, of Nottingham, Md., was originally charged in the District of Columbia with Jan. 6 criminal counts: felony obstruction of Congress (later thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court); unlawful entry; and violent entry, disorderly conduct, and other offenses on Capitol grounds. On March 3, 2021, a grand jury added criminal counts for entering and remaining in a gallery of Congress and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Based on President Trump’s Jan. 20 pardon declaration, those charges were dismissed Jan. 21 by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.

RELATED: Fact-check: President Trump authorized 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6, 2021

A Metropolitan Police Department officer deploys high-velocity pepper spray at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

When the FBI searched Costianes’ Maryland residence in February 2021 on the Jan. 6 charges, agents found four vials of testosterone, which is a controlled substance. They also found four firearms, two of which the FBI said were not registered to Costianes.

On April 21, 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Costianes on nine criminal counts, including conspiracy to distribute and possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, use of any communication facility to facilitate a drug felony, three counts of distribution of a controlled substance, and possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of any controlled substance.

'The President pardoned Mr. Costianes of the offenses in the indictment.'

The controlled substances at issue in the indictment were testosterone and cocaine, court records showed.

Costianes agreed in June 2023 to plead guilty to the firearms charge. Judge Bredar sentenced him to 366 days in prison. Costianes’ surrender date was weeks after President Trump took office, so Costianes asked the judge to delay his reporting date. The judge refused. Costianes reported to prison on Feb. 12, 2025.

He filed an emergency appeal the same day with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

RELATED: Trump pardons 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, commutes the sentences of 14

Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The new Trump DOJ indicated its belief that the president’s pardon declaration covered both Costianes’ Jan. 6 Washington, D.C., charges and his subsequent Maryland drug charges.

“After consulting with the Department of Justice’s leadership, the United States has concluded that the President pardoned Mr. Costianes of the offenses in the indictment,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bornstein. “This determination by the Executive is ‘conclusive and preclusive.’”

Judge Bredar’s ruling allows Costianes to travel within the continental United States, so he will be able to visit his gravely ill sister, who is in hospice care in Williamsburg, Va., Stewart said.

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