Current:Home > NewsKenneth Chesebro rejected plea offer ahead of Georgia election trial: Sources -Prime Capital Blueprint
Kenneth Chesebro rejected plea offer ahead of Georgia election trial: Sources
Indexbit Exchange View
Date:2025-04-10 07:33:02
One of former President Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case rejected a plea deal from prosecutors ahead of his trial this month, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 18 defendants charged alongside Trump in Fulton County case racketeering case, rejected an offer from prosecutors, the sources said.
The deal would have allowed Chesebro to avoid prison time by pleading guilty to one felony count of racketeering, the top charge in the indictment, according to the sources.
MORE: Jury selection to begin Friday in first Georgia election interference trial
He would have had to agree to testify against his codefendants -- including Trump -- in exchange for three years' probation and a $10,000 fine.
The terms of the deal also included a written letter of apology, the sources said. The deal would have been made under Georgia's first-offender act, under which the conviction would have been wiped from Chesebro's record after probation was completed.
Chesebro rejected the deal in late September, the sources said. He is facing seven counts after allegedly drafting a strategy to use so-called "alternate electors" to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to the indictment.
An attorney for Chesebro declined to comment to ABC News. A spokesperson for the Fulton County district attorney's office also declined to comment.
Chesebro's trial, alongside co-defendant Sidney Powell, is set to begin this week after the pair opted for a speedy trial. Jury selection gets underway on Friday.
Earlier in September, a Fulton County prosecutor indicated in court that they intended to extend deals to Chesebro and Powell ahead of trial.
"We'll sit down and kind of put some things together and we'll reach out to defense counsel individually to extend an offer," said prosecutor Nathan Wade when pressed by the judge.
Later that day, one of the 19 charged in the indictment became the first to accept a deal in the case. Scott Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties in exchange for immunity and a fine, and agreed to testify against Trump and others.
In early October, ABC News reported that a number of the defendants in the Fulton County case had received plea deal offers or had been approached about potentially making a deal by the district attorney's office, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The former president has blasted the district attorney's investigation as being politically motivated.
veryGood! (186)
Related
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Real Housewives' Lisa Barlow Shares Teen Son Jack Hospitalized Amid Colombia Mission Trip
- Vigil held for 5-year-old migrant boy who died at Chicago shelter
- Bus crash kills player, assistant coach in Algerian soccer’s top league, matches postponed
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Survivor Season 45 Crowns Its Winner
- Immigration helped fuel rise in 2023 US population. Here's where the most growth happened.
- Tommy DeVito pizzeria controversy, explained: Why Giants QB was in hot water
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Look Back on the Most Dramatic Celeb Transformations of 2023
Ranking
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Tennessee judge pushes off issuing ruling in Ja Morant lawsuit
- An author gets in way over his head in 'American Fiction'
- Slow-moving Pacific storm threatens California with flooding and mudslides
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- 'You see where that got them': Ja Morant turned boos into silence in return to Grizzlies
- 2 adults, 2 children injured in explosion that 'completely destroyed' South Florida home
- ICHCOIN Trading Center: Crisis Eases, Bull Market Strengthens
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
FBI searches home after reported cross-burning as part of criminal civil rights investigation
Suriname’s ex-dictator sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 1982 killings of political opponents
ICHCOIN Trading Center: A Historical Review
'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
Stock market today: Asian shares fall as Wall Street retreats, ending record-setting rally
Texas police officer indicted in fatal shooting of man on his front porch
After 38 years on the job, Santa Luke still has time for everyone. Yes, you too