According to the Washington Post, the first individual sentenced for a felony in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack now claims he was coerced into pleading guilty by his lawyers and wants to withdraw his plea.
After pleading guilty to one felony count of impeding a joint session of Congress meeting to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election, Paul Hodgkins, 38, was sentenced to eight months in jail in July.
Even though Hodgkins did not use violence, he did carry a Trump flag onto the Senate floor after lawmakers were forced to evacuate.
The disturbance was labeled “an act of terrorism” by a federal prosecutor, who sought an 18-month sentence.
During the hearing, Hodgkins said that he understood he “may have helped embolden others to carry out the destruction that occurred.” Through a new attorney, Hodgkins now claims that he “did not want to plead guilty to a felony” and that defense attorney Patrick Leduc “rushed him into everything.”
His new attorney, Carolyn Stewart, claims that Leduc misled Hodgkins by telling him that all the allegations against him were felonies and that he would likely avoid jail time. On Thursday, she wrote in a filing, “one might wonder whose team Mr. Hodgkins’ former attorney was on.”
Although Hodgkins’ deadline to appeal his sentence has passed, Stewart claims he was not fully informed of his rights and should be given additional time.
Leduc declined to respond because he was sent overseas with the Army Reserves shortly after Hodgkins’ sentencing. He assured Stewart in email exchanges revealed in court files that he obtained Hodgkins the best deal available.
“My strategy paid off to Paul’s benefit,” he wrote. “No other Federal defendant who is pleading to a felony will get a sentence better than Paul.”
According to the Justice Department, anyone who entered the Senate chamber on January 6 was forced to plead guilty to a felony.
Some defense lawyers pushed their colleagues to hold out and see if the government would cave in under the pressure of facing hundreds of cases in court. “The US makes offers with a take it or leave it attitude,” Leduc told Stewart.
While the legitimacy of the criminal charges Hodgkins argued for was questioned by one DC judge, others were frustrated that more dangerous individuals were not accused of serious crimes.
“QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley, another individual who entered the Senate without violence, pleaded guilty to the same crime on Friday.
The only one who has ever been convicted of a felony continues to be Hodgkins.
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