Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro — a key co-defendant in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case — took a last-minute plea deal.
The former Trump campaign legal adviser struck a deal with Georgia prosecutors regarding the 2020 election interference case. Chesebro will plead guilty to a single felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing of false documents and in exchange, Chesebro will truthfully testify and provide documents and evidence. Chesebro had originally pled not guilty.
The Associated Press reported, “According to the negotiated terms, Chesebro will receive 5 years of probation; pay $5,000 restitution; complete 100 hours of community service; write an apology letter; and testify as needed against former President Trump and the remaining defendants.”
According to NBC News, “Chesebro told the court that he had already written an apology letter, another term of the agreement. The deal was offered under Georgia’s First Offender Act, and roughly followed the contours of the plea offer that Chesebro rejected in late September.”
Chesebro’s attorneys previously argued, “Nothing about Mr. Chesebro’s conduct falls outside the bounds of what lawyers do on a daily basis; researching the law in order to find solutions that address their clients’ particularized needs.”
Before the plea deal, Chesebro faced seven original counts against him related to the reported plan to submit a slate of fake electors from Georgia.
The judge said if Chesebro successfully adheres to the sentence, the case will be officially sealed, leaving him without a criminal record.
Chesebro, 62, is one of the 19 defendants in Georgia’s election interference case against Trump and his allies.
The plea arrives one day after former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell took a plea deal. Barely avoiding a trial, Powell pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors and only received probation in exchange for her testimony in the case.
Last month, bail bondsman Scott Hall struck an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to tampering with voting machine equipment. He received probation in exchange for agreeing to testify at the trial of other co-defendants.
Powell, Chesebro, Trump, and 16 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges related to the alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
All the defendants are accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, by participating in an effort to recruit false electors to subvert the 2020 election that Trump lost.
Politico noted, “Prosecutors say that effort was part of a ‘multistate conspiracy’ to subvert the 2020 election by violating federal election laws and stoking improper challenges to Joe Biden’s victory.”
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