What will happen to Philly-area residents who were charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot?

South Jersey native Christian Alfonso already pleaded guilty to participating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — admitting last year that he followed a mob into the building, then took photos in the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Another local Jan. 6 defendant, meanwhile — Robert Ciottoni of Willow Grove — was charged last year with walking through the ornate halls amid the riot that day, and his trial is scheduled to begin later this month.

But in recent weeks, attorneys for both men have asked federal judges to delay forthcoming court proceedings due to the impending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to pardon scores of Jan. 6 defendants as soon as he is sworn in for his next term.

“To proceed with this trial under the shadow of these political realities would not only risk rendering the process moot, but would also squander the limited resources of this [c]ourt and the Department of Justice,” Ciottoni’s attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Jonathan McDonald, wrote in court documents.

Alfonso’s attorney, David Castellani, said moving ahead with his sentencing on Jan. 10 — less than two weeks before Trump is sworn in again — would be “simply unnecessary.”

“Mr. Alfonso … is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office,” Castellani wrote.

Judges denied both requests. But the developments underscore the suddenly unsettled reality surrounding the Jan. 6 prosecutions exactly four years after the attack.

The Justice Department — in what it has called its biggest investigation ever — has charged more than 1,500 people with ransacking the building and participating in the violent melee that sought to block certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. More than 1,000 people have since been convicted of offenses ranging from trespassing to seditious conspiracy, the department said.

About 10% of those charged have been from Pennsylvania or New Jersey, including Zach Rehl, a Philadelphian and one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a group that prosecutors said helped incite the assault.

But both on the campaign trail and as president-elect, Trump repeatedly called the Justice Department’s investigation politically motivated and corrupt, and described some of those charged as “patriots” and “hostages.”

Beyond seeking delays in their cases to await Trump’s return to power, at least a few defendants have asked courts for permission to attend his inauguration. And one Indiana man awaiting sentencing fled to Canada to seek political asylum until Trump returns to the White House.

Trump’s transition team declined to provide specifics on whom he might pardon, or whether he would take different actions depending on the charges in question..

“President Trump will pardon Americans who were denied due process and unfairly prosecuted by the weaponized Department of Justice,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, said in an email to The Inquirer.

Here are some of the local residents who could benefit from Trump’s clemency, depending on which course he decides to take.

The former president of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter was one of the most significant figures to be convicted by federal prosecutors in Washington.

The Port Richmond native and three other Proud Boys leaders were found guilty in 2023 of charges including seditious conspiracy for riling up the mob that stormed the Capitol. Rehl was then ordered to serve 15 years in federal prison, one of the longest sentences handed down for any Jan. 6 defendant.

At his sentencing hearing, Rehl called Jan. 6 a “despicable day” and said he was “done with politics” and “done peddling lies for other people who don’t care about me.” Still, he has appealed his conviction; that effort remains pending.

At least one of Rehl’s codefendants has publicly indicated that he intends to seek a pardon from Trump. An attorney for Rehl, 39, did not respond last week to requests for comment on whether he plans to do the same.

Khater — a native of Somerset, N.J., who later ran a smoothie shop in State College, Pa. — was sentenced in 2023 to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to deploying pepper spray against police officers trying to protect the Capitol.

One of the officers Khater sprayed was Officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed at the scene and died the next day. Sicknick was later found to have died of natural causes, but the medical examiner said his condition was likely worsened by the chaotic scene he encountered while confronting the mob.

Khater was not charged with causing Sicknick’s death, nor was his codefendant, George Tanios, a childhood friend who lived in Morgantown, W.Va.

Still, at Khater’s sentencing hearing, Sicknick’s mother said he “attacked my son like he was an animal.”

Khater remains imprisoned at a low-security facility in Connecticut. His attorneys did not respond to requests for comment last week about whether he has sought, or will seek, a pardon.

Not all of those convicted were accused of crimes of violence.

West Chester native Gary Wickersham, 84, spent about 20 minutes inside the Capitol shortly after other protesters initially breached the building. He confronted law enforcement officers while inside, prosecutors said, but did not possess a weapon and left on his own.

Wickersham — one of the oldest people arrested for participating in the riot — pleaded guilty in 2021 to a single misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest and three years’ probation.

Dawn Bancroft of Doylestown was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of illegally demonstrating on Capitol grounds. She admitted filming a video during the attack in which she said she was looking for Pelosi (D., Calif.) to “shoot her in the friggin’ brain.”

Bancroft later said that was a “stupid, juvenile comment.” She was sentenced to 60 days in jail followed by three years’ probation. Bucks County Republicans also voted in 2022 to oust her from her position as an elected committeeperson.

And Gary Edwards of Churchville, Bucks County, was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty in 2021 to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol for spending 20 minutes inside the building, including walking into a U.S. senator’s office. Edwards was the first Philadelphia-area defendant to be convicted for participating in the riot.

Pardons by Trump would wipe those convictions off their records.

Attempts to reach Wickersham, Bancroft, and Edwards to ask if they would be seeking pardons were unsuccessful.

Dozens more local residents, meanwhile, have cases that remain pending — meaning a pardon by Trump would kill their prosecution before it has concluded.

Alfonso, the South Jersey native who took photos in Pelosi’s office, is among them.

His attempt to reschedule his Jan. 10 sentencing hearing was rejected last month by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. The judge wrote in an order that he was “unconvinced that seeking a pardon from the newly-elected President — no matter how likely the defendant believes his request will be granted — is sufficient enough basis to [delay] his sentencing hearing.”

Alfonso, who pleaded guilty in September to disorderly conduct and parading or picketing at the Capitol, faces a maximum jail sentence of 12 months, according to court documents.

Ciottoni — the Willow Grove man whose trial is set to begin later this month — was also rebuffed in his attempt to postpone his proceedings indefinitely.

Still, Ciottoni did score a potential victory. Because he agreed to have his case heard by a judge, and not a jury, the first date of his trial was pushed back by a day, to Jan. 23, court records show.

Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20, and he has promised to start doling out pardons on “day one” — meaning Ciottoni’s relief could arrive the same week his trial is set to begin.

Other local defendants awaiting sentencing include Isaiah Giddings, a member of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter who has admitted storming the Capitol alongside Rehl and other convicted Proud Boys. Giddings pleaded guilty in 2022 to a count of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27.

Other trials involving local defendants are currently scheduled to occur through the spring and as late as July, court records show. Pardons by Trump could wipe those cases from the record, preventing any evidence from being put before a jury and preempting future convictions over Jan. 6.