The Burgettstown man who pleaded guilty in September to attacking police officers while storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack on Congress nearly four years ago asked for his sentencing to be delayed as he awaits a possible pardon from President-elect Donald Trump.

The attorney for Joshua Lee Atwood filed a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., last month seeking U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss to delay the sentencing scheduled for Dec. 20 since “new developments arose that significantly impact the status of this case,” specifically Trump’s election and his promise to pardon the J6 rioters.

Moss denied the motion shortly after it was filed Nov. 22, indicating the sentencing will go on as scheduled later this month.

Atwood, who has been jailed since U.S. marshals arrested him at his Burgettstown home on April 17, is facing a lengthy prison sentence due to the severity of the felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon he pleaded guilty to on Sept. 5. However, he could conceivably be free exactly one month to the day after his sentencing if Trump makes good on his campaign promise to offer blanket pardons to the Capitol rioters upon his inauguration on Jan. 20.

“President-Elect Trump has represented on multiple occasions his intention to grant clemency to individuals, such as Mr. Atwood, who have been charged in relation to the events of January 6, 2021,” Atwood’s federal defense attorney, Amy Collins, wrote in her motion. “Lending credibility to his representation(s), when he previously held office, President-Elect Trump embraced such powers more than any preceding U.S. president.”

Numerous other defendants awaiting trial or facing sentencing for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack have also asked for delays in the month since Trump’s electoral victory on Nov. 5, although federal judges have mostly rejected those requests.

“There is a sincere likelihood that, upon this change in administration, including the appointment of a new Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Justice might be advised to handle January 6 cases much differently – from a change in the posture of sentencing recommendations to a complete abandonment of its prosecution of January 6 cases,” Collins wrote.

Federal prosecutors opposed the request, but did not file any court documents supporting their position.

In her filing, Collins unsuccessfully asked for the sentencing to be delayed until March 14 after the inauguration to see whether Trump follows through on his promise.

“While we make a request to continue the Sentencing Hearing, we note that such a request should, in no way, be viewed as Mr. Atwood lacking remorse,” Collins wrote in her motion.

Atwood, 32, attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall and then marched with the riotous mob to the Capitol, where he went inside the building through a broken window and later exited. Afterward, he attacked police officers assembled outside a tunnel entrance below the Lower West Terrace, and then threw water bottles and a metal flagpole at other officers guarding the tunnel. He struck others with a wooden pole and then doused officers with pepper spray before throwing the empty canister at them.

He also used a police-issued riot shield to strike several police officers guarding the tunnel. Atwood later threw a metal scaffolding pipe at the police line, hitting a DC Metro police officer’s riot shield before it ricocheted and struck a Virginia State Police trooper’s head and neck. He also threw a “heavy black speaker” toward the officers.

Even if Atwood is granted a pardon and released from federal prison next month, his legal troubles are hardly over since he still faces felony charges for an alleged armed assault and robbery in West Virginia. A Hancock County grand jury indicted Atwood earlier this year for allegedly stabbing the owner of the Crazy Donkey restaurant in Chester, W.Va., in April 2023 before taking money from the cash register and leaving. That case was put on hold while Atwood faced federal charges in connection with the Capitol riot case.