Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello from Judge Amy Berman Jackson's courtroom, where sentencing is about to begin for Cleveland Meredith — brought guns + ammo to DC on Jan. 6, arrived too late for rally --> insurrection, pleaded to texting a threat re: Pelosi: "putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV"

The first big question Jackson will have to decide is what the sentencing guidelines range is for Meredith — it'll depend on what factors/enhancements apply to his case. Could be 6-12 mos, 18-24 mos, or as high as 37 to 46 mos if there's an "official victim" enhancement

The govt is advocating for a sentencing in the middle of whatever the guidelines range is: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Meredith is seeking time-served since his arrest on Jan. 8 + three years supervised release: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Jackson is doing this sentencing in-person, but the remote line is available. Here's the dial-in info:
Toll Free Number: 888-363-4735
Access Code: 9203812

Jackson is on the bench. She notes part of the proceeding may need to be sealed so they can discuss health info re: Meredith, so she's figuring out how to handle that — sounds like the bulk of it will be public, fwiw

Okay it's sentencing guidelines calculation time. The offense that Meredith pleaded guilty to, making interstate threats, carries a max sentence of 5 years. The guidelines aren't binding on judges, but are an important factor that set benchmarks for arguments

The first enhancement at issue is whether the offense involved conduct demonstrating an intent to carry out the threat. The govt is arguing yes, the enhancement should apply, citing texts en route about weapons he was bringing, planning for violence: "Burn DC to the FKG ground"

Friend texts Meredith: "I think Trump wants you to go home peacefully!!"

Meredith: "Bullshit, he wants HEADS and I’m gonna deliver"

AUSA also notes uncharged text threat about shooting DC Mayor Muriel Bowser

AUSA Anthony Franks says Meredith had the ability to carry out threats, was close in proximity to the Capitol, told someone he was strategizing about how best to do it, and narrowed who exactly he wanted to carry out threats against

Meredith's lawyer Paul Kiyonaga is up, says yes the messages were threatening, but they weren't serious, were just among family and friends, and that his client is "a lot of talk" and that it was "bullshit"

Kiyonaga says there's no evidence Meredith took steps to figure out where Pelosi would be or surveil the environs. As for the weapons, Kiyonaga said he'd been traveling with them after a trip to Colorado, legally acquired them, reasonably was concerned about "social unrest"

Jackson says it's a pretty low threshold to prove this enhancement, describes the "arsenal" that Meredith put together in his truck when traveling to DC, says it doesn't matter when he bought the weapons at issue

Jackson (sounds inclined to apply this enhancement, hasn't made it official yet): "What difference could it possibly make if somebody went to a gun store or a gun safe to get the supplies at the time he was making threats?"

Okay, yes, as expected Jackson concludes this +6 enhancement does apply to Meredith's case, re: offense involving conduct that shows intent to carry out the threat, so that brings up the base offense level, and potential prison time on the table

She's moving on to what other enhancements she needs to consider in calculating the advisory sentencing guidelines. The presentence report applied an "official victim" enhancement, so she's going to consider that now

Jackson notes that the govt didn't ask for this enhancement, says that's "odd" but doesn't stop her from considering it, and notes that defense points out the govt didn't charge the offense, says that's also irrelevant at this stage

Meredith's lawyer argues they "painstakingly" negotiated a plea deal with the govt, and they only discussed two potential ranges, 6-12 mos and 18-24 mos, and basically is ticked the govt is now benefitting from potentially higher range as calculated by probation office, 37-46 mos

Jackson cuts off Kiyonaga from complaining about this further, says the probation office wasn't bound by the plea deal and did its job in coming up with what they believed was the appropriate range given Meredith's conduct, and the govt hasn't violated the plea deal

Jackson says Kiyonaga is trying to add elements to this enhancement that aren't part of it (ex, that the threat had to disrupt official functioning), it's about whether threat was motivated by the official's status and performance of duties (that is, that Pelosi is who she is)

Jackson rules she will apply this enhancement as well, saying that Meredith's "antipathy" was specifically re: Pelosi's status, notes he made the threat at issue about shooting her while she was talking on TV as speaker of the House addressing the Jan. 6 attack

This means that Meredith's advisory sentencing guidelines range is 37 to 46 months. She notes that this is not binding on the court (but it's not a good development for Meredith)

With the sentencing guidelines issues resolved, Jackson is now hearing arguments about what sentence she ultimately should impose

AUSA Franks is up first, argues that any threat to kill is serious, but it takes it to another level when a public figure is involved. He notes even Meredith's family was concerned and contacted the FBI: "One mother may have saved another mother in this case"

Franks: "There’s a lot that public officials have to weigh, they have to make decisions, they have to do so with integrity, and being threatened to get killed, even if that threat was not communicated to them directly, is not something that they signed up for."

Franks argues that even setting aside the "misogynistic tone" of Meredith's messages, the detail he used in making threats to kill the speaker of the House is not only troubling, it's "disgusting." AUSA argues both general and specific deterrence are needed in this sentence

Govt isn't asking for a specific prison term, but is asking for a sentence in the "mid-range" of the sentencing guidelines adopted by the court, which would be somewhere in the middle of 37-46 mos (why Meredith's lawyer is upset about how the guidelines calculations played out)

Meredith's lawyer Paul Kiyonaga is up, says Meredith had a good upbringing, education, family ties — but was "plagued" by a deepening sense of lack of purpose and mostly untreated mental health issues, says that's how he got into conspiracy theories (sentencing memo notes QAnon)

Kiyonaga says it was in QAnon that Meredith "found the sense of purpose, that he found the sense of significance, that he found the sense of meaning that had long eluded him"

Kiyonaga says Meredith didn't post threats online for maximum effect, didn't communicate anything to Pelosi or his staff; argues that the "let your hair down" messages that you exchange with family are different from how you'd speak in a considered way

Kiyonaga says Meredith saw events of Jan. 6 as a "vindication" of what he thought, was "amped up" by what he saw and also likely influenced by medication, compares him to a football captain amped up at halftime, maybe by something he's taking, talks about taking out opponent

Kiyonaga says that spending the past year in the DC jail, especially during the pandemic, "hard time," missing this time with his family, has been sufficient to deter Meredith from every doing something like this again. Also that mental health treatment would be beneficial

Kiyonaga compares Meredith to other Jan. 6 cases where people expressed threats — notes misdemeanor charge for woman on video as she exited the Capitol saying "We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her" (see: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…)

Kiyonaga concludes by saying Meredith is ready to go home and be a good father and "disengage" from the extremist beliefs that motivated his conduct in January. He says he doesn't need to discuss the sealed materials, so now Jackson is hearing from Meredith's family

Meredith's mother, who called the FBI after learning about the threat he'd texted to another relative, tells Jackson that they contacted authorities because they didn't want him to get caught up in the "melee" and thought they were saving his life

Cleveland Meredith addresses the judge, says he had "no intention," and that he engaged in "political hyperbole that was too hyper." He says he apologizes to Nancy Pelosi, to his family

Meredith is audibly emotional, says he wants to go home to his family.

Jackson thanks him for his "obviously sincere and heartfelt" statement, says she's going to take a 30-minute recess to get thoughts in order, figure out if there's anything she can't say on the public record

Judge Amy Berman Jackson is back on the bench to announce her sentence for Cleveland Meredith, who pleaded guilty to sending a message on Jan. 7 threatening to shoot Nancy Pelosi. Says normally she'd invite him and his lawyer to the lectern, but she has "a lot to say" so not yet

Jackson begins by going over the messages that Meredith sent, noting that the govt avoided using some of the language that he used but she's going to say it, because in this case "the words are critical"

Which is to say, Jackson is not bleeping herself as she reads all the texts quoted in the charging docs and govt's sentencing memo.

She reads a Jan. 6 message updating his car trouble status: "Just fixed...head to DC with a shit ton of 5.56 armor piercing ammo."

Ah Jackson will not be saying what she describes as the "four-letter c-word," which Meredith repeatedly used in sending messages about shooting DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as well as Pelosi

Jackson says she doesn't buy that Meredith packed up all the guns and ammunition he ended up bringing to DC case he needed something else to do on a family ski trip to Colorado. "Please."

Jackson notes that Meredith got arrested for assault while he was in DC, charged with headbutting another driver, says it showed he was "spoiling for" a fight (that separate criminal case is pending)

Noting that someone responded to Meredith's text about shooting DC Mayor Muriel Bowser with "LOL," Jackson, who is on a tear here, says, "Not one text inspires people to smile, let alone laugh out loud"

First break for Meredith: Jackson says that she thinks a sentence within the guidelines range that she found generally applies to the offense/facts as charged (37-46 mos) would be greater than necessary, noting the threat was made to family and not made directly to Pelosi

Jackson also notes a report about Meredith's good behavior in the DC jail during his pretrial detention, as as well as what she says is an unusual letter from another incarcerated person about Meredith's mentorship and care

Jackson says that Meredith's issues didn't start with the election or QAnon, that although he didn't have serious criminal history, there was a pattern of "troubling" behavior and assaultive conduct, road rage episodes, bringing a firearm to a BLM rally

Jackson says testimony from Meredith's parents and friends "tend to dwell on the good days": "I'm a parent, I get it, the parents will always see the boy. I was told today that he's a good boy, and an incredible young man, but I am presented this morning with a man in his 50s"

As for Meredith's mental health issues, Jackson says it's unfortunately he hasn't received treatment he needs, but the defense expert report doesn't include a clear plan, gives her great difficulty to find that time-served is the way to go here

Jackson notes mental health expert is willing to back family's request to have him go home to get treatment and that he can improve and avoid aggressive behavior and won't be a danger if the treatment course the expert IDs is pursued — "those are big ifs," she said

Jackson notes cases cited by the govt support 18-24 month range, defense argues some of those defs took more affirmative steps to act on threats. Jackson notes cases cited by defense didn't involve same presence of weapons, and that also differentiates the Dawn Bancroft case

Jackson says the "lie that the election was stolen and illegitimate is still being perpetrated," indeed it's "being amplified," and even "worse" that it's considered "heresy" by GOP to say otherwise

Jackson says that threats against lawmakers, exec branch, judges, press "multiples every day."

"The bounds of decency and the bounds of the law have not changed one bit and they need to be enforced."

Jackson: It's not enough to say afterwards that a threat wasn't serious.

"That is the most tired and hollow excuse and this sentence needs to clearly express that these kinds of statements cannot be shrugged off. ... They cannot be erased by adding 'lol' at the end."

Now: Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Cleveland Meredith to 28 months in prison, with credit for time served, after he pleaded guilty to sending a message threatening to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head the day after the Jan. 6 insurrection

Jackson's sentence includes 3 years of supervised release once he finishes his prison term — he's been in jail since Jan. 8, so that's ~11 months credit off of a 28-month sentence. He must comply with any treatment plan, and she wants to stay involved with his reentry progress

Jackson concludes by praising "the quality and intensity and the fervor" of legal representation on both sides, calls it a "difficult case"

Jackson ends by addressing Meredith: "You have a lot of your life ahead of you. You get to decide what it's going to be." She says he's going to need "a lot of help along the way," and says the purpose of her sentence is to make sure he gets that help.

That's a wrap.

A man who traveled to DC with guns + ammo on Jan. 6 and sent a message about shooting Nancy Pelosi in the head was sentenced to 28 months in prison.

"These kinds of statements cannot be shrugged off ... They cannot be erased by adding 'LOL' at the end."
buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…