Alabama Trump supporter Joshua James, a member of the right-wing extremist group the Oat Keepers, is facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to seditious conspiracy charges on Wednesday as part of a deal with prosecutors.
The plea deal is contingent on James’s cooperation with the U.S. government in their ongoing prosecution of defendants who were involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and comes nearly a year after James was charged with impeding and obstructing Congress’ affirmation of the Electoral College vote in the 2020 presidential election, ABC News reports.
James, 34 pleaded guilty before the court to one count of seditious conspiracy and one count of obstructing an official proceeding in exchange for a reduced offense level, which the judge will consider at sentencing.
According to the report, “the plea agreement directly implicates Oath Keeper founder and militia leader Stewart Rhodes, among others, in a conspiratorial plot to stop the transfer of power ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, with Rhodes predicting ‘a bloody and desperate fight.'”
“They used encrypted and private communications, equipped themselves with a variety of weapons, donned combat and tactical gear, and were prepared to answer Rhodes’s call to take up arms,” reads the agreement between James and prosecutors, according to the network.
“James acknowledged he and others collected firearms at hotels on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and were ready to use them to prevent Biden from becoming president,” ABC reported, citing court documents.
The seditious conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, a fine of $250,000, and three-year supervised release, along with other fees and penalties
Read the full report on ABC News.
