Dozens of Marylanders implicated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are expected to have their cases dropped after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping pardon on his first day back in office, unraveling the largest investigation in U.S. Department of Justice history.

Trump’s clemency action applies to more than 1,500 of his supporters who were charged or convicted in connection with the violent attack that broke out just over four years ago amid a failed attempt to keep the Republican in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election. At least 46 people from Maryland have been charged in connection with the breach of the Capitol, according to the Justice Department.

Trump, who not too long ago faced charges stemming from his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and ensuing riot, said that the clemency action would end “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years.” He said the pardons would begin “a process of national reconciliation.”

The wide-ranging scope of Trump’s pardons includes people convicted of assaulting police officers and defendants with admitted ties to extremist groups, such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. The Justice Department must ensure that all people convicted of offenses related to the attack and currently in prison “are released immediately.”

It wasn’t clear how soon that would happen for many of the defendants, though prisoners started to be released late Monday, and prosecutors filed a flurry of motions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday seeking to dismiss hundreds of cases.

Garrett County native Daniel Egtvedt, 61, had been convicted of several charges but had a count dismissed following a Supreme Court ruling and was due to be resentenced for his other convictions Jan. 28.

On Monday, the day of Trump’s second inauguration, the federal prosecutor handling his case filed a motion to dismiss the case altogether. Just two days earlier, the same prosecutor had filed a memorandum seeking for Egtvedt to be sentenced to over five years in prison.

Some of the Maryland residents expected to be freed have admitted to preparing for the attack by bringing weapons and military gear to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the National Mall on Jan. 6; others were leaders in far-right groups like the Proud Boys.

One Maryland man who prosecutors said hurled a smoke bomb at Capitol Police officers went on to become a police officer himself before he was charged; another suspect became a member of Maryland’s election board before he was identified. That defendant, Salisbury resident Carlos Ayala, was not detained as he awaited trial, and prosecutors asked Tuesday afternoon to drop his case. He did not return requests for comment. His lawyer, former Trump defense attorney James Trusty, also declined to comment.

Many of the Maryland defendants serving time have expressed regret for their roles in the attack.

“I had no idea what was about to happen was going to change my life forever,” Carroll County resident Rodney Milstreed wrote to a federal judge ahead of his sentencing in November 2023, also writing that he thought he was going to Washington for “a rally/protest.”

Milstreed had admitted to taking steroids to prepare for the Jan. 6 rally, where he had texted associates he would “be cracking skulls.” He brought a club to Washington, assaulted an Associated Press photographer and threw a flagpole and smoke grenade at police officers. He ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison. The 58-year-old from Finksburg’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Egtvedt had gone to Washington for Trump’s rally but did not expect a riot to break out and “deeply regrets” going, his defense attorney wrote in a 2023 sentencing filing. His attorney, Kira Anne West, wrote that Egtvedt and other rioters were influenced by the storm of false information pushed through political media by Trump and his associates.

“People like Mr. Egtvedt stood no chance at truly grasping the gravity or reality of the situation, let alone know what the facts truly were before January 6, 2021,” she wrote. West did not return a request for comment.

Over 1,500 people have been charged with various offenses for participating in the mob that descended on the Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 election results.

Until recently, Trump himself faced criminal charges in Washington related to his attempts to undermine the 2020 election, calling his indictments politically motivated. That case was dropped after he won the Nov. 5 election, winning the Electoral College handily and beating Democrat Kamala Harris in the popular vote.

Trump, who falsely alleged widespread voter fraud and sought to overturn the election results, had summoned the crowd of protesters to the National Mall that day. The indictment against Trump in Washington stemmed from the president’s and his associates’ various attempts to overturn the election, culminating in the Republican’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021. The president and his associates still face election-related fraud charges in various states.

On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump vowed vengeance for his multiple criminal prosecutions and hinted he would use his clemency powers to free Jan. 6 defendants, whom he described as “hostages.”

The 78-year-old president specifically commuted the sentences of a handful of offenders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, and issued a “full, complete and unconditional” pardon to “all other individuals convicted of offenses” related to the unprecedented assault in Washington. He also directed federal prosecutors to pursue dismissal of all pending Jan. 6 cases.

In advance of Trump taking office for a second term, some Marylanders were also granted last-minute preemptive pardons by the outgoing Biden administration. One was Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who was present during the attack and testified to a House committee investigating it. Another was U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of that committee.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris called those pardons “unfathomable” in an Inauguration Day appearance on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” saying they interfere with how Congress operates. The Maryland Republican had met with Trump and other lawmakers before Jan. 6, 2021, and discussed having then-Vice President Mike Pence reject the election results.

Harris said in a statement that Justice Department resources “should no longer be used to investigate, prosecute, or continue to incarcerate those who were on Capitol Grounds that day.” He said that Trump had “made it clear” that prosecutions should focus on “rioters, looters, and criminals” who are in the country illegally.

Raskin, a Democrat representing Montgomery County, said that the first executive actions of Trump’s second term was the “same old fanaticism and division” of his first term, including the pardons that included “members of violent extremist street gangs like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and 3%-ers who beat police officers as they stormed the Capitol.”

Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on social media that to pardon rioters “shows contempt for law enforcement, for the rule of law, and for our justice system and constitution,” noting that participants “assaulted and bloodied police officers” and “tried to overthrow our democracy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Contact Dan Belson at dbelson@baltsun.com, on X as @DanBelson_ or on Signal as @danbels.62.