As part of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 pardon order, a Florida defendant and Oath Keepers member who was linked to an explosives-laden RV that was allegedly brought to the Washington, D.C., area had a series of separate convictions vacated and dismissed by a federal judge Wednesday in the Sunshine State for possessing illegal firearms and U.S. Army grenades.
Jeremy Brown, a former U.S. Army Green Beret who was given a seven-year sentence for the weapons and grenades case, gained support from Trump’s Justice Department in late February, with federal prosecutors telling U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday that “based on consultation” with DOJ leadership, it was the position of the United States that the offenses Brown was accused of — including possessing a modified AR-15 short-barreled rifle and sawed-off shotgun, both unregulated
Merryday, a George H.W. Bush appointee, agreed and issued an official order vacating Brown’s convictions on Wednesday in the Middle District of Florida’s Tampa Division.
The move came after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals delegated jurisdiction in March to the district court to “consider and rule upon” the United States’ motion to vacate and dismiss Brown’s explosives and gun convictions, which he was sentenced to in 2023 and released in February.
“The United States’ motion is granted, the judgment is vacated, and the second superseding indictment — and, derivatively, perforce the pardon, both the superseding indictment and the indictment — are dismissed with prejudice,” Mr. Merryday said. “The clerk must close the case.”
Brown was charged on January 6 with “unlawfully and knowingly” entering and remaining in a restricted building and grounds at the United States Capitol, according to court documents.
Brown was charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., with misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct, and photos showed him dressed in military gear.
In December 2022, a jury in Florida found Brown guilty of possessing unregistered short-barreled firearms, possessing unregistered explosive grenades, improperly storing explosive grenades, and retaining classified information.
According to evidence presented at his trial, on September 30, 2021, the FBI executed an arrest and search warrant at Brown’s Tampa home, discovering an unregistered AR-15-style rifle with a 10-inch barrel in Brown’s bedroom.
Agents also allegedly discovered a sawed-off shotgun on a couch inside Brown’s recreational vehicle, which was parked near his home.
“Inside a briefcase next to the shotgun, agents discovered a classified Trip Report that Brown had authored shortly before retiring from the United States Special Forces,” prosecutors stated in an April 2023 press release.
“Inside the bedroom of that same RV, agents discovered an ammunition vest with two M-67 fragmentation grenades hidden in the pockets. U.S. Army records confirmed that the grenades were originally in the Army’s possession.”
In their February notice of filing Brown’s certificate of pardon, prosecutors did not provide a specific reason for throwing out his weapons and explosives convictions, only stating that it was “based on consultation with Department of Justice leadership.”
