As part of a deal with prosecutors that will require him to work with the co-accused, 34-year-old Charles Donohoe pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday to charges of conspiracy to obstruct formal proceedings and assault police. of the Capitol. The North Carolina native could face up to 28 years in prison. However, citing federal sentencing instructions, prosecutors estimated in court records that he would serve six or seven years. Judge Timothy Kelly did not immediately set a date for the sentencing. Five co-accused, including prominent members of the group Enrique Tarrio and Dominic Pezzola, are scheduled to stand trial in May. In December, Matthew Green of New York became the first Proud Boys to admit to being involved in the plot to attack the Capitol as part of a deal with prosecutors. Green also agreed to work with the authorities. According to prosecutors, on Jan. 6, Donohoe was among at least 100 Proud Boys who marched from the Save America rally near the White House to the Capitol in hopes of derailing congressional certification for Biden’s victory over him. Donald Trump. Donohoe held a high position in the group. In the days before the rally, he, Tarrio and others used encrypted messaging applications to discuss setting up a “Department of Defense” to invade the Capitol. Upon arriving at the building, Donohoe threw two bottles of water and passed in front of a group of police officers who tried to stop the mob, prosecutors wrote in a summary of the case approved by Donohoe. Donohoe took a picture of Pezzola holding a riot shield just outside the Capitol, boasting of a message to other members of the militia: “I have a riot shield.” The group entered after Pezzola allegedly broke a window, urging Donohoe to send other messages saying: “We are attacking the capital unarmed” and “we took it unarmed” because “the world is over”. A bipartisan Senate report linked seven deaths to the uprising, which temporarily delayed certification for Biden’s victory as lawmakers fled. About 140 police officers were injured. Authorities have charged more than 800 people in connection with the attack, with a particularly high-profile case filed in Washington federal court targeting Donohoe, Tarrio – who was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 – Pezzola and three others. members of the Proud Boys. Donohoe has been held in federal custody since his arrest in March last year. Tarrio, Pezzola, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl have pleaded not guilty and are currently due to stand trial on May 18. The six defendants are also being named in a pending federal lawsuit by the District of Columbia, which is seeking compensation from the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, another far-right group, for the Capitol attack.
