Federal prosecutors this week took steps to dismiss criminal convictions against three of the six Macomb County residents who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and caused nearly $3 million in damage to  the U.S. Capitol.

On the first day following the inauguration, President Donald Trump signed documents pardoning nearly 1,500 supporters suspected of storming the Capitol, referring to the defendants as “hostages.”

“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,” Trump’s executive order said.

The order grants “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses” and ordered the dismissal of pending indictments. Anyone currently in custody of the Bureau of Prisons was to be released immediately.

According to U.S. Attorney’s Office data and other media reports, the Macomb suspects received sentences ranging from home confinement to two weeks in prison.

Court records show federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed motions to dismiss the indictments of Daniel Herendeen of Chesterfield Township, Robert Schornak, Roseville, and Tim Boughner of Romeo.

Herendeen, 46, and Schornak, 42, described by the FBI as friends, were both charged with obstruction of Congress, aiding and abetting, knowingly entering a restricted area, and disorderly conduct. Both pleaded guilty to entering a restricted building.

A judge ordered Herendeen to serve 14 days in prison, 60 days home detention, three years probation, and to pay $500 in restitution toward repairing damage to the Capitol building, court documents show.  Schornak was sentenced to 28 days “intermittent confinement,” two months home detention, three years probation, and $500 restitution.

Herendeen was previously convicted of domestic assault, disorderly conduct and operating while impaired twice between 1995 and 2013. Schornak was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2003 and operating while intoxicated in 2001.

Both men have already served their sentences. Although a pardon nullifies the conviction and eliminates any impact on rights, such as employment, serving on a jury or voting, a commutation doesn’t reverse the conviction; it only reduces the sentence.

On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed charges against Tim Boughner of Romeo who was accused of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building and other crimes.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said the president’s pardon does not necessarily mean Boughner is innocent. In her ruling, the judge “no pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened” on Jan. 6, 2021.

“The dismissal of this case cannot undo the “rampage (that) left multiple people dead, injured more than 140 people, and inflicted millions of dollars in damage. It cannot diminish the heroism of law enforcement officers who “struggled, facing serious injury and even death, to control the mob that overwhelmed them,” the judge wrote.

“It cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake.  And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.”

The government’s video shows Boughner in a crowd at the Capitol and using a chemical spray against officers attempting to secure the building, the government said. He is also accused of using a bike rack to assault officers.

His case had not been adjudicated at the time of Wednesday’s pardon, court records show.

Three other local residents are expected to also have their convictions pardoned.

Earlier this month and before the Inauguration, Mount Clemens businessman Jason Howland was sentenced to serve 36 months of probation, including three months of home detention. He was sentenced Jan. 10 by Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Howland, 49, a residential bathroom contractor from Clinton Township, pled guilty to civil disorder. FBI agents arrested him in Mount Clemens in January 2024 on five charges, including disorderly conduct and obstruction of an official proceeding, court records show.

In a sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors asked the judge to send Howland to prison for two years.  They said he intended to disrupt Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election won by President Joseph Biden, called for “war” on Jan. 6 and spent an hour inside the Capitol, longer than other convicted rioters.

“Howland was an avid and willing participant in an unprecedented crime,” Justice Department Trial Attorney Terence Parker wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “He joined a mob that threatened the lives of legislators and their staff, interrupted of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count, injured more than one hundred police officers, and resulted in more than $2.9 million in losses.”

In addition to house arrest, Judge McFadden ordered Howland to pay $10,000 in restitution, fines, and assessments.

His lawyer, Sean Tilton, sought a more lenient sentence, arguing Howland has changed his behavior and noting advisory sentencing guidelines call for no more than a six-month prison sentence.

“He no longer attends protests or rallies,” Tilton wrote. “He has been deterred from engaging in any similar behavior. Mr. Howland has worked very hard to stop using drugs, remain sober, and build and support a family. He regrets putting everything he has worked towards at risk.”

Howland wrote a letter of apology to the judge where took responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6. He said he had a realization after the riot and asked for mercy from the court.

“The realization is that it is not good for me to be involved in events where there is a capacity for the crowd to get out of control,” he wrote. “For a long time I had questioned how seemingly average people got involved things like this. I had seen the stories and asked myself how people could be so foolish. Then, I was there, and it was different. I was the fool.”

Neither Howland nor his attorney responded to requests for comment this week.

Federal prosecutors said the Jan. 6 incident marked the latest criminal offense by Howland.

He has a criminal history that stretches nearly 30 years, including convictions for felony assault with a dangerous weapon, receiving and concealing stolen property and a 2006 guilty plea to ethnic intimidation and attempted assault with a dangerous weapon in St. Clair County.

Howland “repeatedly yelled the N-word at a group of three African American children who were playing at a park,” the prosecutor wrote. “When confronted by the children’s mother, Howland picked up a shovel, threatening to hit her with it and calling her the same racial slur.”

In that case, Howland was sentenced to probation but was sentenced to one year in prison after violating the terms of his probation.

According to The Detroit News, Howland co-founded the American Patriot Council, a group that organized protests in Michigan against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics. In doing so, he worked with Ryan Kelley, a one-time gubernatorial candidate and real estate broker who was sentenced to 60 days in prison for committing a federal crime during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He also is in the process of having his conviction dismissed.

Also expected to have his conviction overturned is James Mels.

Mels, 58, of Shelby Township received a sentence of three years probation, three months home detention, 60 hours community service, and $500 in restitution. He was charged with entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and picketing inside the Capitol.

He pleaded guilty to entering a restricted building, according to court records.

 

 

Finally, Steven Thurlow, 52, of St. Clair Shores has been sentenced to two years probation, 80 hours community service, and $500 restitution

Thurlow was charged with entering a restricted building, demonstrating in the Capitol and two disorderly conduct charges.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, Thurlow wore bulletproof armor during the insurrection as a mob assaulted police and pushed their way inside the Capitol, according to investigators. Prosecutors said he openly bragged about the group’s involvement on Facebook, giving law enforcement officers evidence that led to his arrest.

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One person is being held in custody following a Christmas Eve shooting that left three people suffering from gunshot wounds in Oxford Township in what investigators called a “major incident.”

One of the victims has died, officials report, in what appears to be a random attack that involved a convicted felon involved in violent confrontations in multiple locations.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said gunfire broke out about 6:32 p.m. Tuesday on Ray Road, between Lapeer and N. Oxford roads.

Responding deputies found three people injured from gunshots. All three were transported to area hospitals.

“Deputies have the suspect in custody and have recovered a gun,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post.

Early Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office updated the situation, reporting that one victim had succumbed to their injuries.

“One of the victims of the shooting last night has passed away,” the sheriff’s office stated on its Facebook page. “The other two should be on the road to physical healing.”

In anticipation of coming criminal charges, officials also addressed the nature of the attack while not yet revealing details of the circumstances.

“At this point, it appears that the terrible events of last night were completely random with the suspect just passing through the community when he went off on a violent spree at multiple locations,” the sheriff’s office said. “He is a convicted felon with multiple past weapons offenses and we intend to seek every possible charge against him. He is being held in our jail pending formal charges.”

No further information was released on the suspected shooter or the ages and hometowns of the three victims. Also unknown is the specific motive in the attack.

At 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, investigators said: “We are asking that people stay out of the area while the major incident is being processed. The area is an active crime scene. It is believed there is no further danger to the public.”

Deputies used their patrol vehicles to block access to the scene on Tuesday night. The road has since been reopened.

The shooting scene is just north of Oxford High School, where four students died and seven people were injured in a mass shooting in November 2021. There was no immediate indication the school was in any way involved in Tuesday’s incident.

WDIV-TV (Channel 4) reported a heavy police presence at a nearby Meijer store, but authorities say the shooting did not happen there, and it was just the staging area for first responders.

Neighbors told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) they heard at least four gunshots

“Well, we were just sitting inside watching a holiday program and we heard four very quick gunshots; I mean it’s pretty distinct when you hear gunshots,” Tom Binkowski, who lives in the area, told the TV station. “It’s Christmas Eve. What are people thinking?”

Binkowski and other neighbors believe the victims may have been helping the shooter, who was off the road in a vehicle, when the shots rang out.

It was unknown when the accused shooter will be arraigned or when further information on the incident will be released.

 

Detroit Lions legendary running back and NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders has taken an ownership stake in a Florida-based car wash company that has two Macomb County locations in the works, according to a published report.

Sanders is expected to play a key role in El Car Wash’s expansion across Michigan, DBusiness reported earlier this week.

“Barry’s legendary career, his dedication to excellence, and his deep ties to Michigan make him an ideal partner as we continue to grow and expand our footprint in the Midwest,” Justin Landau and Geoffrey Karas, co-CEOs of El Car Wash, said in a joint statement.

El Car Wash opened its first Michigan location in Brighton earlier this year, and later opened another location in Madison Heights on 14 Mile Road west of Stephenson Highway.

According to the company’s website, new locations are planned in Sterling Heights, Warren and Novi. The Sterling Heights car wash will be on Metro Parkway just east of Dequindre Road, while the Warren location is planned for Mound Road near 12 Mile Road in the Meijer store parking lot.

“Becoming a part of the El Car Wash movement was the perfect opportunity for me to invest further in Michigan,” Sanders said.

The Miami-based company was founded in 2011, and today it operates 52 locations in Florida. They did not respond to an email request for further comment from The Macomb Daily.