Same caption: United States v. Rhodes, 22-cr-00015 (APM). After the D.C. Circuit vacated the convictions at the government’s request, the Justice Department moved under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) to dismiss the indictment. Rule 48(a) lets prosecutors drop a case with leave of court. On May 29, 2026, Mehta deferred a ruling and ordered a fuller statement of reasons (ECF 976). On August 4, 2026, he issued a memorandum opinion and order, ECF 981, granting the motion and dismissing the superseding indictment with prejudice.
The opening line: “After securing vacatur of the convictions of eight Defendants in this case—all members of a group known as the Oath Keepers—the United States now moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) to dismiss the indictment. Reluctantly, the court grants the motion.” He wrote that the government asked to absolve defendants of crimes against the United States itself; that the January 20, 2025, proclamation commuted prison sentences but did not pardon these defendants or direct dismissal; and that he still had to yield to the executive’s charging discretion. A dismissal with prejudice ends that prosecution. It is not a finding that the 2022 verdicts were false. It is not a pardon.