- It came a day after Sidney Powell, another former Trump lawyer, reached a settlement
- Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony: conspiracy to file false documents
- He avoided prison and received probation and community service
Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, has reached a deal with prosecutors in Georgia, where the former president and others are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
He pleaded guilty to one felony: conspiracy to file false documents.
Prosecutors recommended he receive several years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution, write a letter of apology to the citizens of Georgia and complete 100 hours of community service.
This came as a judge in Trump’s separate civil fraud trial in New York threatened to send the former president to prison for contempt.
The judge said Trump failed to remove from his website an “untrue and derogatory” image of the court clerk with Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, which described her as “Schumer’s girlfriend.”
Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors
Chesebro was indicted along with Trump and 17 others just over two months ago and accused of violating the state’s anti-racketeering law as part of a conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s election results.
Two of the other defendants – including lawyer Sidney Powell, who was scheduled to go to trial with Chesebro – have already pleaded guilty to reduced charges.
No trial date has yet been set for the remaining defendants, who pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, Powell suddenly pleaded guilty to conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election.
She admitted to six charges in a deal with prosecutors that reduced her sentence.
Powell avoided prison time and was sentenced to six years probation in a surprise appearance in Fulton County Court in Georgia on Thursday.
Chesebro was initially charged with criminal racketeering and six other counts as part of a wide-ranging plan to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in a deal with prosecutors
Judge Scott MacAfee sentenced Chesebro
The indictment accused Chesebro of coordinating and implementing a scheme to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate falsely declaring that Trump had won the state and making themselves among the “duly elected and qualified.” state voters explained.
For prosecutors, the agreement means Chesebro publicly accepts responsibility for his conduct in the case.
A mugshot of Sidney Powell, who made a deal the day before
Donald Trump is also charged in the case and has denied all allegations
It also forces him to testify about communications he had with Trump campaign lawyers and close associates, including co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump lawyer.
Jury selection for a trial against Powell and Chesebro was scheduled to begin Friday.
After Powell pleaded, Chesebro was scheduled to go to trial alone.
But then he reached an agreement with the public prosecutor at the last minute.