ATLANTA — Another defendant in the election interference case pleaded guilty Friday morning to conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
Kenneth Chesebro became the third defendant to enter a guilty plea in the case.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot got word early Friday morning that there was a plea deal in the works.
It finally came just after Noon, but only after jury selection in Chesebro’s case already started.
Some 450 potential jurors met at the Fulton County Courthouse to fill out a questionnaire Friday morning, but three hours later, word came down that Chesebro and his attorneys reached a negotiated plea deal.
[PHOTOS: Kenneth Chesebro takes plea deal in Georgia election interference case]
Chesebro was one of 19 defendants named in a sweeping racketeering indictment alongside Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and former President Donald Trump.
The January 6 Committee described Chesebro as one of the architects of the false electors scheme.
Elliot was inside the room in December 2020 when the Georgia Republican false electors met at the state capitol.
“This was part of a multi-state criminal conspiracy to unlawfully overturn the results of the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election in favor of co-conspirator Donald John Trump who did not win that election,” prosecutor Daysha Young said.
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Afterwards, Chesebro’s attorney Scott Grubman insisted his client was not the architect of the false electors scheme and Friday’s plea deal proves that.
“I think this plea absolutely shows and proves that he was not and never was the architect of any sort of fake elector plan and anything like that,” Grubman said.
The judge sentenced Chesebro to 5 years probation, and he will have to testify in any upcoming trials.
Grubman said co-defendant Sidney Powell’s plea deal a day earlier had no impact on his client’s decision to plead guilty.
“I wouldn’t say it affected it. It was definitely a kind of last-minute thing, as often these plea deals are. But I don’t think it was Ms. Powell’s deal that affected it,” Grubman said.
There was no comment from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on Friday’s plea.
Trump’s Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, said in a statement that he felt Friday’s plea was the result of pressure from Fani Willis’ office.
He went on to say again that any truthful testimony from Chesebro would be favorable to his defense strategy.
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