President Donald Trump has pardoned all defendants, including multiple defendants from Lake and McHenry Counties, involved in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Trump, on his first day back in office, issued a full and unconditional pardon to all individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred near or at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump called the defendants “hostages” and said the pardon impacts approximately 1,500 people.
The president also commuted the sentences of 14 defendants who were currently serving prison time, ordering their release.
The pardons impact four defendants from Lake and McHenry counties.
Robert Giacchetti, 59, of Crystal Lake, pleaded guilty in November to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers before U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. He was awaiting a June sentencing hearing.
Giacchetti attended a rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, prosecutors said. He then made his way to the U.S. Capitol building.
While on a restricted walkway on the south side of the Capitol, Giacchetti used a bullhorn to yell profanities and insults at law enforcement officers responding to the riot.
Prosecutors said Giacchetti went to the North Terrace and confronted officers who were maintaining a police line.
He used his right elbow and hip to push against a riot shield, causing an officer to be driven backward, prosecutors said.
Giacchetti then entered the Capitol building through the Upper West Terrace Door at approximately 2:34 p.m.
He moved to the Rotunda, the Rotunda Lobby and the Gallery Stairs where he chanted “Treason!” through his bullhorn to the rioters below, prosecutors said.
Giacchetti then joined a crowd in the East Corridor where some individuals banged on closed office doors and shouted, “1776!” He continued to use his bullhorn to yell.
Prosecutors said Giacchetti entered the Senate Gallery at 2:43 p.m. where he yelled phrases such as “Where’d you go?!” and “Treason!” through his bullhorn.
After exiting the Gallery, he moved to the Ohio Clock Corridor where he joined a group of rioters confronting officers trying to block access to the Senate chamber.
Giacchetti exited the Capitol at approximately 2:55 p.m. through the Senate Carriage Door.
Prosecutors said he confronted journalists on Capitol Grounds and destroyed media equipment belonging to the Associated Press.
Giacchetti pushed over lights, a dolly and a camera on a tripod, which struck a journalist, causing the journalists to flee the area.
Nhi Ngoc Mai Le, 27, a former Lake in the Hills resident, pleaded guilty in November 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
A criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent said an anonymous tipster reported to the FBI National Threat Operations Center that a woman identified as Mai Le, who now lives in Montgomery and is a nail salon owner, was present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The woman posted several photos on her Facebook account of herself at a rally in Washington, D.C. and inside the U.S. Capitol building.
The woman told an online group chat that she climbed a wall to reach the Capitol building and was pepper-sprayed.
Mai Le also told them that another person was fatally shot while she was inside the building, the complaint said.
She shared several short videos in the group chat. One was a video of herself next to the damaged Parliamentarian Door before it was breached.
A video was also taken inside the office to the left of the Parliamentarian Door where she captured herself in a mirror. Another video was taken inside a Brumidi Corridor.
Agents obtained a Facebook post from January 5, 2021, where Mai Le posted a photo along with a caption that read, “D.C. We are coming… Fight for Trump… Save America.”
District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan sentenced Mai Le to concurrent terms of 10 days in prison, with no probation period, during a sentencing hearing last February.
Christian Kulas, 24, of Kenilworth, was charged in June 2021 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with two counts of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and one count of temporary residence of the president.
Christian Kulas’s brother, Mark Kulas, Jr., 27, of Lake Forest, was charged in November 2021 with one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor.
Several people sent tips to the FBI days after the January 6 riot about a video Christian Kulas had posted on Instagram that appeared to show himself participating.
A man, who multiple people identified as Christian Kulas, was seen in the video wearing a Burberry jacket along with a baseball cap that said “Keep America Great” on the front of it, according to an affidavit from the FBI.
He could be heard in the video laughing and saying “storming the Capitol,” the affidavit said.
Kulas’ mother confirmed in a direct message on social media that her son Christian was the one in the video, the affidavit said.
The Kulas brothers are graduates of Lake Forest High School and are the sons of the owners of Kulas Maids, which is a Northbrook-based company.
The Kulas brothers both appeared in court in December 2021 in front of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan and entered into plea agreements.
Both of them pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors said in court documents that the two brothers flew from Illinois to Washington, D.C. on January 5, 2021, and walked with the crowd into the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6.
“Mark Kulas, Jr. and Christian Kulas walked around the interior of the U.S. Capitol Building, including through areas known as the Capitol Rotunda and Statuary Hall. Christian Kulas shouted and cheered in support of the rioters, including a group of rioters using force in an effort to breach a police line and to open a doorway,” prosecutors said.
Hogan sentenced the two to 60 days of home detention and six months of probation and ordered them to repay restitution of $500 each.