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Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder
Ex-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro pled guilty Friday in Fulton County Superior Court to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents for his role in attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.
Chesebro was promptly sentenced by Judge Scott McAfee to five years probation after admitting in court that he illegally devised a multi-state false Republican elector scheme in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory over incumbent Donald Trump.
Chesebro was initially facing multiple felony charges in a sweeping election racketeering case that alleges Trump and 18 of his allies illegally colluded to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.
Chesebro is the first defendant in the Fulton election investigation to plead guilty to a felony charge. Chesebro was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to file false documents that carried a maximum five-year prison sentence.
He joined co-defendant Sidney Powell in entering their guilty pleas this week ahead of their scheduled trials.
A couple hours before Chesebro’s sentencing hearing, several hundred prospective jurors summoned for his trial arrived at the courthouse to fill out jury questionnaires.
According to the plea agreement, Chesebro was ordered to write an apology letter, must perform 100 hours of community service and pay $5,000 in restitution. He also agreed to testify and to turn over all evidence to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
Chesebro’s probation and other conditions of his sentencing mirror the deals reached by Powell and Atlanta bail bondsman, Scott Hall, who admitted their involvement in a 2021 Coffee County voting system breach.
Under the Georgia First Offender Act, each of their guilty convictions will be removed from their records if they cooperate with prosecutors and successfully complete probation.
Chesebro confirmed on Friday that the false elector documents were intended to be presented as authentic as Chesebro coordinated with Trump, the Trump campaign, and others on a plan that would culminate with the chaotic breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Prior to Friday’s plea deal, Chesebro suffered a series of legal setbacks as he fought to move his case to federal court and for his charges to be dismissed.
His lawyers contested prosecutors’ attempts to exclude from evidence emails and other correspondence from Chesebro advising the Trump campaign, national and state GOP officials and alternate electors about the scheme.
Chesebro’s insistence that Trump lawyers were solely focused on providing legal advice was undercut when the New York Times reported on Wednesday that Chesebro acknowledged a political agenda in overturning the 2020 election.
Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and Twitter.
