‘It is not entirely clear on what basis he even seeks a vacatur’: Judge bemoans effort by Jan. 6 defendant to link gun and drug case to Trump pardon

Left inset: An alleged selfie of Elias Costianes at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack (Justice Department). Center inset: Elias Costianes (Justice Department). RIght inset: An alleged photo of Elias Costianes inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack (Justice Department).

Left inset: An alleged selfie of Elias Costianes at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack (Justice Department). Center inset: Elias Costianes (Justice Department). Right inset: An alleged photo of Elias Costianes inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack (Justice Department).

A Jan. 6 defendant who tried using President Donald Trump’s mass pardon to get released early from prison for gun crimes discovered by the FBI during its investigation of the U.S. Capitol attack will be staying in the clink — with a federal judge on Friday choosing to keep the Maryland native behind bars, saying he “simply asks” to be let out “but does not provide a basis for doing so.”

Elias Costianes, formerly of Nottingham, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after he entered a guilty plea in September 2023 for possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user of any controlled substance, according to the Justice Department. Authorities caught him with illegal drugs and multiple weapons during a 2021 raid of his home. Costianes joined a litany of other Jan. 6 defendants earlier this month when he filed a consent motion to stay his sentence and ask to be released in response to rulings made in other Jan. 6 cases by judges who have started to throw out cases they say are “related” to Trump’s pardon.

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