He was one of the first Jan. 6 defendants to plead guilty to a felony. Now he wants to take it back.

[UpInArms]

The first person to be sentenced for a felony in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack now says he was bullied by his attorney into pleading guilty and would like to take it back.

The request filed Thursday offers insight into the negotiations going on in hundreds of criminal cases stemming from the Capitol insurrection.

Paul Hodgkins, 38, was sentenced in July to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to one felony count of obstructing a joint session of Congress meeting to confirm the results of the 2020 president election. While he did not engage in violence, he carried a Trump flag onto the Senate floor after lawmakers had been forced to flee. A federal prosecutor had asked for an 18-month sentence, calling the riot “an act of terrorism.”

… snip …

Now, however, Hodgkins says through a new attorney that he “did not want to plead guilty to a felony” and was “rushed into everything” by defense attorney Patrick Leduc.

According to his new attorney, Carolyn Stewart, Leduc inaccurately told Hodgkins that all the charges against him were felonies and that he would probably not receive jail time.

More at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/paul-hodgkins-capitol-riot-take-back-plea/2021/09/03/1e774bfa-0cde-11ec-a6dd-296ba7fb2dce_story.html

He belongs under the jail … I hate these creatures

[RockRaven]

1. Get fucked, loser.

Stop wasting the court's time.

[MustLoveBeagles]

2. Dude

That's not how this works. There are no do overs.

[Goodheart]

3. He's lucky he got only eight months

Q Shaman is looking at 41 to 51 months.

[Bluethroughu]

4. These people should be facing 20 years for sedition.

Everyone paying attention knew these types would go back to planning their next move. They hate America and Americans.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Terrorist.

[Comfortably_Numb]

6. To prison traitor....20 years is a good number.

[Jim__]

7. I'm guessing the judge asked him if he knew he was pleading guilty to a felony.

So, if he said yes, and now he says he didn't know, he's also guilty of perjury.

[bottomofthehill]

8. Let him, then try him on all counts,

Find him guilty and extend his stay behind bars

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Unlikely to persuade a new judge.

1. Attorneys have to abide by Ethics Rules. They can't force their clients to do anything.
2. Attorneys practice under the specter of malpractice. They wouldn't do anything without lengthy memos to the File.
3. When you plead guilty to anything criminal or quasicriminal, from a speeding ticket to murder, the Court always gets you on the record that you plead voluntarily (without coercion) and that you're satisfied with the advice/counsel given by your attorney.