Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello from Judge Royce Lamberth's virtual courtroom, where the first of two back-to-back plea hearings in the Jan. 6 cases is about to get underway — both involve defendants charged with assaulting police at the Capitol, which is a first and will mark another important milestone

First up is Scott Fairlamb, who, among other things, was charged with punching one officer in the head s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2046…

Fairlamb is one of several dozen Jan. 6 defendants in pretrial detention while his case is pending, so he's appearing for today's plea hearing by video from jail (I'm listening to the audio feed remotely so I can't see him, but they just noted that)

Fairlamb is pleading guilty to two felony counts from his April indictment:
- obstruction of an official proceeding (aka Congress voting to certify the Electoral College results)
- Assaulting, resisting, or impeding police (including physical contact with the MPD officer)

The obstruction count has a max sentence of 20 years in prison, and the assault/interference count has a max sentence of 8 years in prison because his conduct involved physical contact + intent to commit another felony

Fairlamb is facing an estimated advisory sentencing guidelines range of 41-51 months in prison (he could argue for less than that)

We've seen that estimated range of 41-51 months before — it's what was estimated for Jon Schaffer, the first person to plead guilty(he pleaded guilty to obstruction + entering a restricted building with a weapon). Schaffer's sentencing has been on hold while he cooperates

Other terms of the plea deal: $2,000 in restitution (the standard agreement on that so far in felony cases), and Fairlamb will debrief with the FBI if they want to talk to him at some point before sentencing (a partial cooperation agreement)

Very short plea hearing for Scott Fairlamb, sentencing memos are due Sept. 20 and Fairlamb is due back for sentencing on Sept. 27

This was in the plea deal for Paul Hodgkins (where you may recall his lawyer objected during sentencing at using the term domestic terrorism re: Jan. 6): s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2079… but the govt ultimately decided not to seek it

https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1423695991044198404

The est'd advisory sentencing guidelines described at a plea hearing aren't a guarantee of what someone will get: Fairlamb could argue for less, the govt just said they're reserving the right to argue for more, the judge has a lot of freedom as long as it's within legal max

And since I'm seeing some confusion out there: The estimated sentencing range described at a plea hearing is not the govt's recommendation for a sentence — they're what both sides have agreed for now is the advisory range based on the offense and def's characteristics

The next plea hearing today in the Jan. 6 cases (also before Judge Royce Lamberth) is for Devlyn Thompson, who is set to plead guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding police using a dangerous weapon (a baton, per another recent filing): s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2099…

Thompson's lawyer will be arguing to keep him out of jail until he's sentenced — he's been cooperating with investigators for months, per defense filing yesterday, and will be submitting an apology letter to the MPD officer he's charged with assaulting s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2103…

Meanwhile, elsewhere in court today:

https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1423708195646750725

Back to Devlyn Thompson's plea hearing: Like Scott Fairlamb an hour ago, he's pleading guilty to assaulting police, but his count has a max penalty of 20 years in prison instead of the 8 years for Fairlamb, because the max jumps up when a weapon is involved

Thompson's lawyer says that he is at level 23 for the estimated sentencing guidelines range, which would be 46-57 months in prison (keeping in mind Thompson can argue for less, we don't know what the govt will ask for, and the range is advisory and isn't binding on judges)

Thompson's lawyer is arguing to keep him out of jail pending sentencing, citing risk of COVID (he's not vaxxed but willing to be, there are allergy-related concerns, per his lawyer) and lack of evidence of advance planning re: Jan. 6 — "When he got there, he got carried away"

AUSA says it's true that Thompson has been on release for the past seven months and has cooperated, but argues that the crime he's now pleading guilty to and other circumstances/law around this warrants placing him in detention now pending sentencing

AUSA Tejpal Chawla says re: COVID risk, Thompson did cite an allergy to an ingredient that's in the J&J vaccine, but it's not in the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Also notes that in the videos of Thompson from the Capitol, he's not wearing a mask, so that undercuts a risk arg now

Lamberth orders Thompson jailed pending sentencing — now that he's pleaded guilty to a crime of violence, the judge has to find "exceptional circumstances" for him to stay out of jail, and Lamberth rejects Thompson's arg that general COVID risk meets that standard