Former Donald Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have accepted plea deals in connection with the purported effort to overturn Trump’s presidential election loss in Georgia in 2020.
Powell pleaded guilty on Thursday to reduced charges. She, along with Trump and 17 other co-defendants, was accused of violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering laws and initially faced racketeering and six other charges, according to the Associated Press.Â
Just one day before her trial was set to begin with jury selection, Powell agreed to a reduced plea deal that totaled six misdemeanor charges of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties, per the AP.
Although Powell will avoid jail time by agreeing to the plea deal, she will be required to serve six months of probation, testify at future trials, pay nearly $9,000 in restitution and fines, and write a letter apologizing to Georgia residents, per CNN.
A new court filing states that Powell admitted to “willfully tampering with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines” with the intent of “taking and appropriating information, data, and software, the property of Dominion Voting Systems Corporation.”
Elie Honig, a senior legal analyst at CNN, said on News Central that the guilty plea is a “really big breakthrough for the prosecutors,” adding, “There is no such thing as halfway cooperation.”
“If you’re a prosecutor, you would not enter into this deal with Sidney Powell unless you had been thoroughly convinced that A, she is telling the truth; B, she is going to be able to testify for you credibly in the way that you can put in front of a jury, and justify and see she is not going to be splitting hairs,” said Honig.
Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia John Fishwick also noted that the guilty plea was a “significant win” for prosecutors. He added that Powell’s future testimonies could have a major impact on the trial due to her knowledge of the situation.
“This is somebody who was at ground zero of these allegations and a lawyer who is pleading guilty,” he said, per AP.
Powell’s plea came just one day before she was expected to go on trial with Chesebro, another former Trump lawyer indicted in the case.
The two defendants each filed motions for a speedy trial and would have been tried together after the motion to separate the trials was denied, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
After jury selection began Friday for Chesebro’s trial, the defendant accepted a last-minute plea deal. He pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing of false documents and agreed to testify and provide documents for the case against Trump and his co-defendants. He will also receive five years probation and must pay a $5,000 fine.Â
There has not been a trial date set for the other defendants in the case, but prosecutors estimate that the trial could take roughly four months and include over 150 witnesses who will be called to testify.
