A Missouri woman who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump for her involvement in the Capitol riot on January 6th, Emily Hernandez, was just given a 10-year prison sentence for a 2022 drunk driving accident.
The collision on Interstate 44 in Franklin County involved Hernandez, a resident of Sullivan, Missouri. Victoria Wilson, 32, of St. Clair, Missouri, died in the accident, while her husband, Ryan Wilson, was seriously hurt.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that the collision happened in January 2022.
Hernandez entered a guilty plea in November 2024 to charges pertaining to the collision, which included DWI (driving while intoxicated) causing death and DWI causing serious bodily harm to another individual.
Hernandez apologized for her acts at a court hearing, describing them as “ungodly,” and disclosed that she prays for the victim’s family every day.
Following a court proceeding that emphasized the grave repercussions of her choice to drive while intoxicated—which tragically resulted in the death of an innocent woman and the serious injury of another—she entered a guilty plea.
Hernandez’s involvement in the January 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol had brought her global exposure prior to the deadly collision.
She was one of the numerous participants in the riot, which sought to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Hernandez was charged with several offenses related to her involvement in the riot, including stealing or attempting to steal U.S. property, disorderly conduct that interfered with government activities, and knowingly entering or remaining in a prohibited structure or grounds.
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During the commotion, she was seen grinning and clutching a fragment of a placard from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in images and videos from the day.
Given the gravity of the events that day, Hernandez was later charged with a comparatively small misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a prohibited structure or grounds.
Hernandez and a number of other people who were charged with insurgency were pardoned by President Trump despite their role in the incident.
The pardon did not, however, end her legal issues because the 2022 drunk driving episode resulted in a more serious conviction and a lengthy jail sentence.
Hernandez is now dealing with the fallout from her careless behavior on several fronts as a result of her criminal past from the Capitol riot and the tragic outcomes of her driving behavior in 2022.
