Jan. 3—ROCHESTER — A convicted Jan. 6 rioter who was released by mistake from Rochester’s Federal Medical Center at least one month before the end of his prison sentence now will not have to serve the balance of his time, under a U.S. district judge’s order last month.
Leo Christopher Kelly, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, man who was convicted in 2023 on seven counts for his part in the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., was an inmate in the FMC from Oct. 18, 2023, until he was “erroneously released” after serving 11 months, according to court documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office notified the court on Sept. 23 of Kelly’s “untimely” release four days earlier, on Sept. 19.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., who originally sentenced Kelly in 2023, re-sentenced Kelly on Dec.10, 2024, on six counts to time already served, a $5,000 fine, restitution of $500, and special assessment fees totaling $90. Kelly also was sentenced to 12 months of supervised release.
Kelly confirmed that he had entered the Capitol, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported on Jan. 11, 2021. He also told the newspaper that he was not violent during his time in the building and that he understood that there could be consequences for his actions. He turned himself in to authorities on Jan. 14, 2021.
The mistake in releasing Kelly stemmed from a partial reading of an appeal document sent to the prison by Kelly’s attorney. The attorney later told the court that he had not requested that his client be released. The document from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered that Kelly’s conviction “be vacated and the case be remanded for further proceedings.”
That stemmed from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that the defendant tried to tamper with or destroy documents. Kelly was one of about 170 people who were charged with obstruction in connection to the Capitol riot. More than 1,400 people were charged with crimes linked to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Obstruction was one of seven counts filed against Kelly, and it was the count that received the 30-month sentence. The other six counts carried a total sentence of 12 months. While Kelly had served 11 months in the Rochester prison, he was not cleared to be released.
“The Bureau of Prisons did so (released Kelly) without an order from any court. Both parties agree that Mr. Kelly’s release was erroneous,” wrote Judge Lamberth in a document filed Sept. 26, 2024.
The judge ordered FMC Rochester Warden Jared Rardin and Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters to write letters to show cause “as to why they should not be held in contempt of this Court’s order sentencing Mr. Kelly to 30 months imprisonment.”
A letter was written and submitted by Richard Stover, the Bureau of Prisons’ senior deputy assistant director for the Correction Programs Division, on behalf of Rardin and Peters.
“The DSCC staff member reviewing the order misread the order as a final dismissal of the (obstruction) count and overlooked the Court of Appeals’ remand to the District Court for further proceedings,” wrote Stover.
He added that Bureau of Prisons staff were given additional training to “ensure this error is not repeated.”
Bureau of Prisons’ Public Affairs representative Donald Murphy confirmed Kelly’s release to the Post Bulletin, but declined to answer any other questions about the case. A message left on Leo Kelly’s work phone requesting comment was not returned, nor were messages to his attorneys.