Trial Information

TIMELINE OF EVENTS (ARREST, TRIAL, SENTENCING)

Tom was arrested on January 19, 2021 and thrown into jail that day for crimes he did not commit.  He was incarcerated at the Central Virginial Regional Jail in Orange, VA for 53 days (49 of them spent in solitary confinement) before he was released to home confinement on March 12, 2021.

Tom was a defendant in the first Oath Keepers trial (although Tom has never been a member of the Oath Keepers) which occurred Oct – Nov 2022.

Below is a summary of the trial results and the significant events which occurred from the conclusion of Tom’s trial to the day Tom was sentenced on January 10, 2025.

 

October 2022 – May 2023   

Tom endured a 10 week long jury trial in Washington, D.C. in Oct – Nov 2022, along with four other defendants.  He was charged with the following five felonies: 

  • Seditious Conspiracy
  • Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding
  • Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting
  • Conspiracy to Prevent an Officer from Discharging Any Duties
  • Tampering with Documents or Proceedings

Thankfully, Tom was found NOT GUILTY of all three Conspiracy charges.  Inexplicably, he was found guilty of the two lesser charges. 

While we are very grateful for the service and sacrifice of the members of the jury during a long and (in our opinion, unnecessarily complicated) 10 week trial (UGH!), Tom is innocent of ALL charges.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH: On January 6th, 2021, Tom went to listen to President Trump speak at the White House Ellipse area with his wife (they were enjoying a husband and wife day together – just the two of them), then walked to the west side of the U.S. Capitol where they rested at the Peace Monument (not on Capitol grounds) for over an hour.  After Congress was evacuated from the Capitol, Tom and his wife walked onto the inaugural balcony to take selfies (along with hundreds of peaceful Americans charged with NO crimes).  After about 5 minutes on the balcony, peacefully taking photos and chanting “USA, USA, USA” – they LEFT.  They left the Capitol area and left Washington, D.C.  THAT’S IT.  PERIOD.

Two weeks later, before sunrise, an FBI SWAT Team complete with an armored vehicle, armored rifle-toting people and an aerial drone attacked the Caldwell family farm and took him away in chains to prison.

All the other ‘stuff’ Tom is alleged to have done or said was invented by the Biden Department of Justice lawyers because there was no evidence of wrongdoing by Tom. They violated his rights by creating phony exhibits and misconstrued, misrepresented and changed exculpatory evidence to support their false narrative. This is not justice and no one within government has been held to account.

The DOJ possessed evidence proving Tom’s innocence, but they did not care.

FOR MORE FACTS AND INFORMATION REGARDING TOM’S CASE:

Please refer to Mr. David Fischer’s Opening Arguments, as well as his arguments in our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal.

 

May 2023 – Sep 2023

On May 22, 2023, the judge in Tom’s case held a hearing to discuss our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal (MJOA), also known as a Rule 29 Motion.  We argued at this hearing that Tom should be acquitted of his two remaining charges.  At the end of the hearing, the judge indicated that he had a lot to consider and delayed Tom’s sentencing (originally scheduled for May 24, 2023).

On September 19, 2023, the judge ruled on our MJOA and denied it.

To further explain the Court’s Rule 29 (or MJOA) ruling:

  • The Court had to decide whether the government put forth sufficient evidence that a “rational jury” could have lawfully found Tom guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  This is a very easy standard for the prosecutor to meet, because the legal standard as it is written states “all inferences and credibility determinations” must be viewed “in the light most favorable to the prosecution.”In other words, the prosecution always gets the benefit of the doubt. The defendant NEVER does.

The legal “deck” is always stacked against you and me.

The judge has the power to overturn a jury’s verdict in blatant cases of evidence insufficiency but he did not. We believe Tom’s case met every standard for a dismissal that never came.

 

June 28, 2024

On this date, the Supreme Court ruled that the DOJ had interpreted the charge of “Obstruction of an Official Proceeding” (also known as 1512(c)(2)) too broadly in an attempt to use this felony charge against January 6th defendants. The Supreme Court correctly ruled that this charge has to do with “evidence tampering” – for example, shredding documents – and NOT First Amendment-protected freedom of expression, and the right to peaceably assemble and petition our government.

This SCOTUS decision required the Government to dismiss the obstruction charge against Tom.

Essentially, Tom had been wrongfully accused of violating a NON-EXISTENT CRIME.

Now Tom had one felony charge remaining: Tampering with Evidence.

The DOJ alleged that Tom deleted eleven (11) photos from one Facebook Messenger conversation with someone never convicted of anything related to January 6 in an attempt to “hide” these photos from a secret grand jury investigation Tom knew nothing about. The photos show NO EVIDENCE of felonious behavior (selfies, crowd photos, etc.) and the ORIGINALS are still on Tom’s phone, which were ALWAYS available to the FBI & grand jury investigations.

Tom’s attorney, Mr. David Fischer, then submitted a motion to the judge (read it here) in Tom’s case to reconsider our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal for Tom’s only remaining J6 charge.

 

Relief

January 10, 2025

The judge in Tom’s case held a hearing to rule on our reconsideration of Tom’s Motion for Judgement of Acquittal.  The judge denied our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal.

Immediately, the judge held a sentencing hearing to determine Tom’s sentence for his “Tampering with Evidence” conviction (allegedly deleting eleven J6 photos proving his innocence from a Facebook text message). For this one charge, the DOJ was asking for four (4) years of imprisonment in a maximum security prison for Tom!!  Seriously???

Thankfully, the judge sentenced Tom to only time served (the 53 days he had already spent in a Virginia jail mistreated after his initial arrest) and that’s it!  Tom also was ordered to pay a $100 fee / assessment which all defendants pay.  Tom received no probation, no supervised release, no fines, no forced paying of any restitution. 

So, after 53 tortuous days in jail, over 9 months of strict isolation home confinement, three years wearing an ankle monitor, 3+ years of being denied access to the internet, cell phone or social media to remain in contact with family and friends, the judge’s “punishment” for Tom was less severe than that received by some speeders in traffic court.

The prosecutors attempted to destroy Tom’s life for the “Crime of the Century”: allegedly deleting eleven cheerful photos from a text message.

The prosecutors’ own proven corrupt and criminal hypocrisy knows no bounds.

January 20, 2025

While almost all J6 defendants received full pardons on this day via an Executive Order signed by President Trump, Tom did not receive a pardon. Tom’s sentence (his time served sentence of 53 days) was commuted. However, President Trump stated that they would be doing further research on the cases of those that received commutations, and that pardons may be forthcoming in those cases.

 

March 20, 2025

President Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon for Tom!