Current:Home > ScamsSidney Powell pleads guilty in case over efforts to overturn Trump’s Georgia loss and gets probation -ProfitPioneers Hub
Sidney Powell pleads guilty in case over efforts to overturn Trump’s Georgia loss and gets probation
View
Date:2025-04-14 04:58:44
ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyer Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to reduced charges Thursday over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia, becoming the second defendant in the sprawling case to reach a deal with prosecutors.
Powell, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, entered the plea just a day before jury selection was set to start in her trial. She pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors related to intentionally interfering with the performance of election duties.
As part of the deal, she will serve six years of probation, will be fined $6,000 and will have to write an apology letter to Georgia and its residents. She also agreed to testify truthfully against her co-defendants at future trials.
Related coverage
Trump and 18 allies charged in Georgia election meddling as former president faces 4th criminal case
How a law associated with mobsters is central to charges against Trump
Georgia judge rules that Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro can be tried together starting Oct. 23
Powell, 68, was initially charged with racketeering and six other counts as part of a wide-ranging scheme to keep the Republican president in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. Prosecutors say she also participated in an unauthorized breach of elections equipment in a rural Georgia county elections office.
The acceptance of a plea deal is a remarkable about-face for a lawyer who, perhaps more than anyone else, strenuously pushed baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election in the face of extensive evidence to the contrary. If prosecutors compel her to testify, she could provide insight on a news conference she participated in on behalf of Trump and his campaign shortly after the election and on a White House meeting she attended in mid-December of that year during which strategies and theories to influence the outcome of the election were discussed.
Powell was scheduled to go on trial on Monday with lawyer Kenneth Chesebro after each filed a demand for a speedy trial. Jury selection was set to start Friday. The development means that Chesebro will go on trial by himself, though prosecutors said earlier that they also planned to look into the possibility of offering him a plea deal.
Barry Coburn, a Washington-based lawyer for Powell, declined to comment on Thursday.
A lower-profile defendant in the case, bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall, last month pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges. He was sentenced to five years of probation and agreed to testify in further proceedings.
Prosecutors allege that Powell conspired with Hall and others to access election equipment without authorization and hired computer forensics firm SullivanStrickler to send a team to Coffee County, in south Georgia, to copy software and data from voting machines and computers there. The indictment says a person who is not named sent an email to a top SullivanStrickler executive and instructed him to send all data copied from Dominion Voting Systems equipment in Coffee County to an unidentified lawyer associated with Powell and the Trump campaign.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Assassination attempts and new threats have reshaped how Donald Trump campaigns
- Officer who killed Daunte Wright is taking her story on the road with help from a former prosecutor
- What's in the new 'top-secret' Krabby Patty sauce? Wendy's keeping recipe 'closely guarded'
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Why do dogs sleep so much? Understanding your pet's sleep schedule
- Pete Alonso keeps Mets' storybook season alive with one mighty swing
- How many points did Bronny James score tonight? Lakers-Timberwolves preseason box score
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Maryland cancels debt for parole release, drug testing fees
Ranking
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Texas high school football players beat opponent with belts after 77-0 victory
- Who plays on Sunday Night Football? Breaking down Week 5 matchup
- Anne Hathaway’s Reaction to The Princess Diaries 3 Announcement Proves Miracles Happen
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Bibles that Oklahoma wants for schools match version backed by Trump
- David Gilmour says 'absolutely not' for Pink Floyd reunion amid Roger Waters feud
- 'CEO of A List Smiles' charged with practicing dentistry without license in Atlanta
Recommendation
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance
What is a detox? Here's why you may want to think twice before trying one.
What is a detox? Here's why you may want to think twice before trying one.
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti guaranteed $3.5 million with Hoosiers reaching bowl-eligibility
Harris is heading to North Carolina to survey Helene’s aftermath one day after Trump visited
Helene near the top of this list of deadliest hurricanes