A third co-defendant of former US President Donald Trump in Georgia, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who is accused of being one of the masterminds of the plot to overturn the 2020 election results, pleaded guilty Friday in connection with a deal with prosecutors.
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This is the second agreement on this matter in less than 24 hours. Conservative lawyer Sidney Powell, who was to be tried alongside Mr. Chesebro in a trial that began Monday, pleaded guilty Thursday to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to interfere with election duties.
Kenneth Chesebro, 62, who was targeted on seven counts, pleaded guilty to the single count of forgery during a hearing in Atlanta, capital of Georgia (Southeast).
He was sentenced to five years in prison, $5,000 in restitution to Georgia, 100 hours of community service and sent a letter of apology to that state’s voters.
In exchange for the dismissal of the six other charges, Mr. Chesebro must testify at an as-yet-undetermined date in future trials against the other defendants, including Mr. Trump and his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
That agreement came as registration of 450 potential jurors for his now-cancelled trial before the same judge had just begun.
Mr. Chesebro is primarily accused of writing and sending notes to replace the electoral votes won in Georgia in 2020 by Democrat Joe Biden with those of the outgoing Republican president, a maneuver that is at the heart of the alleged conspiracy.
The indictment issued Aug. 14 in Fulton County Court names a total of 19 defendants, specifically under a Georgia organized crime law, but only Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell have called for a quick verdict.
In addition to Ms. Powell and Mr. Chesebro, a first defendant, Scott Hall, pleaded guilty on September 29th.
Donald Trump will also be tried in federal court in Washington starting March 4 over his alleged unlawful attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The former president, a favorite in the Republican primary, is calling his legal troubles “election interference” at the behest of the Biden administration to disqualify him from the 2024 race for the White House.