Saturday, October 12, 2024
Kellye SoRelle, former Granbury attorney and Oath Keeper leader, was expected to enter a guilty plea July 17 in charges stemming from the Capitol riot back in 2021.
Although the Hood County News has not been able to confirm whether SoRelle indeed pleaded guilty last month, it was reported by WUSA9.com that SoRelle’s attorney, Horatio Aldredge, officially filed the motion Monday, July 8.
In the motion, Aldredge requested the U.S. Marshal’s Service to cover SoRelle’s travel expenses from Texas to Washington, D.C., for the plea deal that was scheduled last month. The Washington Post reports that Assistant Federal Defender Maureen Scott Franco highlighted SoRelle’s indigent status in the unopposed motion, and it was not contested by the government.
According to the Washington Post, the motion did not identify which of the four charges in SoRelle’s indictment she intended to plead guilty to from her September 2022 arrest. According to a previous Hood County News article, the four-count indictment of SoRelle by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia included charges of tampering with evidence, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, and being inside the Capitol during the insurrection.
SoRelle — who was also a former Republican candidate for the Texas House of Representatives — was one of approximately two dozen people with links to the Oath Keepers militia charged as part of the government’s largest Jan. 6 case to date.
The Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia, most well-known for its suspected launch of an hours-long Capitol protest in which supporters of former President Donald Trump interrupted a meeting of Congress while it was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Although the certification of electoral votes was delayed, President Joe Biden was sworn in as president two weeks later.
According to WUSA9.com, SoRelle was present with Oath Keepers founder and her boyfriend, Stewart Rhodes, on the Capitol grounds Jan. 6, although she did not enter the building. The Washington Post notes that while SoRelle was not charged with using force to obstruct the peaceful transfer of presidential power between Trump and Joe Biden, the four-count indictment alleged she collaborated with Rhodes outside the Capitol to "intimidate and thwart" the work of lawmakers.
SoRelle — who was one of the last members of the Oath Keepers to be charged — initially entered a not guilty plea. However, her case was put on hold when a judge declared her mentally incompetent in June 2023, just one month before her scheduled trial. The Washington Post reports that U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta did not provide specific reasons but noted that both government and defense experts agreed she was suffering from a mental illness or defect that impaired her ability to understand the proceedings or assist in her defense.
WUSA9.com reports that last June, Mehta ordered SoRelle, who had been on pretrial release, into the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for competency restoration. SoRelle was sent to the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth and was later deemed "competent to stand trial" by Mehta Feb. 8, following a two-and-a-half-month evaluation.
During that time, Aldredge contended his client was still not competent and requested additional time for a follow-up evaluation, which Mehta granted. Mehta also ordered SoRelle to be released from the BOP and returned to her previous condition of supervision.
According to The Washington Post, more than 1,400 individuals have faced federal charges related to the Jan. 6 attack, including more than 500 for assaulting, resisting or impeding police. More than 130 are accused of using weapons or causing serious bodily harm that day. Approximately 1,000 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial, with about a third facing felony charges and the remaining two-thirds charged with misdemeanors.
The Washington Post also notes that Stewart Rhodes and five co-defendants were the first to be charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy in the extensive Jan. 6 investigation. Rhodes, one of the most prominent figures linked to the riot, was found guilty of plotting to forcibly obstruct the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 election. He was sentenced to 18 years in a federal prison last May, with his expected release date set for Jan. 28, 2037, according to the BOP.
WUSA9.com reports that before the July 8 court filing, SoRelle was scheduled to start trial Nov. 12, with a status hearing planned for July 10.
