One of former US President Donald Trump’s 18 defendants accused of his alleged illegal attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia pleaded guilty on Friday, as part of a deal with prosecutors.
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The 19 defendants named in the indictment issued on August 14 in Atlanta, the state capital, under the Organized Crime Control Act, had pleaded not guilty until then.
Initially facing seven charges, Scott Hall, 59, pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy to interfere with election duties during a hearing before Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.
He also pledged to write a letter of apology to Georgia voters and to testify in the upcoming trials of the other defendants.
Not everyone will be tried at the same time, with attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebrough calling for a speedy trial beginning on October 23.
No appointments have yet been set for the remaining 16 members, including Mr. Trump and his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican primary, denounced his legal problems as “election interference” instigated by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to exclude him from the race for the White House in 2024.
Unlike the sprawling proceedings in Georgia, the case being investigated at the federal level by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, for alleged illegal attempts to reverse the results of the vote won by Joe Biden, targets only one defendant: Donald Trump.
The trial is scheduled to begin in federal court in Washington on March 4, and is expected to last about four weeks, according to Jack Smith.
In Georgia, the prosecution expects the trial to last four months.
