(Washington) One of former US President Donald Trump’s 18 co-defendants for his alleged unlawful attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election in Georgia pleaded guilty Friday, as part of a deal with the ‘charge.
The 19 defendants cited in the indictment issued on August 14 in Atlanta, the state capital, under a law on organized crime, all pleaded not guilty until now.
Initially facing seven charges, Scott Hall, 59, pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy to interfere with election duties during a hearing before a Fulton County judge, Scott McAfee.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.
He also pledged to write a letter of apology to Georgia voters and to testify at the other defendants’ upcoming trials.
Not all will be tried at the same time, with lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro having called for a speedy trial, which will begin on October 23.
No dates have yet been set for the remaining 16, including Mr. Trump and his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Donald Trump, favorite in the Republican primaries, denounces his legal troubles as so much “electoral interference” at the instigation of the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to exclude him from the race for the White House in 2024.
Unlike the sprawling procedure in Georgia, the case investigated at the federal level by special prosecutor Jack Smith, for allegedly illicit attempts to reverse the results of the vote won by Joe Biden, targets only one defendant: Donald Trump.
The trial in federal court in Washington is scheduled to begin March 4 and is expected to last about four weeks, according to Jack Smith.
In Georgia, the prosecution expects a trial to last four months.