First Co-Defendant Takes Plea Deal in Georgia RICO Case Against Donald Trump
Scott Hall is the first of the 19 criminal co-defendants to change his plea to guilty.
The first criminal defendant in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ sprawling RICO case against former President Donald Trump has accepted a plea deal. Scott Hall appeared before Judge Scott F. McAfee in state court today to enter a new plea of guilty after coming to a “negotiated agreement” with the DA’s office.
In August 2023, Willis unveiled her RICO case against 19 criminal defendants in relation to Trump’s attempts to overthrow the state election process in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election. All nineteen individuals entered pleas of not guilty during their arraignments. Two criminal defendants - Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell - are currently set to go to trial facing these charges on October 23, 2023 under the state’s speedy trial provision.
In the criminal indictment, Hall was charged with one count of RICO, two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit computer theft, one count of conspiracy to commit computer trespass, one count of conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the state. In the negotiated agreement, Hall has now pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties.
Hall will be sentenced to five years of probation, with the sentence becoming non-reporting after 2.5 years should he not violate any terms of his probation during the initial 2.5 years. Furthermore, he has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, serve 200 community service hours, and a ban on activities relating to polling and election administration. He has also recorded a statement for prosecutors and penned a letter of apology to Georgia voters.
Hall has essentially decided to flip and testify on behalf of the prosecution during all upcoming trials in this case. Testifying truthfully has also been issued as a condition of his plea agreement. As laid out in the criminal indictment, the Atlanta-based bail bond business owner was among a group of individuals who allegedly breached an election office in Coffee County, Georgia on January 7, 2021.
Hall’s testimony will have immediate consequences for Powell, who worked as a Trump campaign lawyer and was involved in the Coffee County election breach. Furthermore, Hall was involved in a 63-minute call on January 2, 2021 with former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in which they reportedly discussed the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Earlier today, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones rejected Clark’s motion to transfer the criminal case against him from state court to federal court.