The Daily Standard
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CELINA- A Celina couple facing multiple federal charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capital have rejected a plea agreement with the U.S. government and are again seeking new counsel.
The U.S. government reopened its plea offer to Shawndale and Donald Chilcoat for the sixth time on Aug. 29. The couple, however, turned down the offer during a court hearing on Friday and intend to stand trial, online court records show.
Under the plea offer, the couple would have pleaded guilty to three charges: a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in the gallery of Congress; and a felony count of failure to appear.
In exchange, the government would have dismissed the remaining five counts in the superseding indictment.
At Friday's hearing, the couple explained that the reason they intended to reject the plea offer was that it would require their pleading guilty to a felony charge, saying "that kind of made the decision for us," per court documents.
In mid-August, after serving as the couple's counsel for just over three months, defense attorneys Joseph D. McBride and Bradford L. Geyer filed a joint motion for permission to withdraw from the case because "the attorney-client relationship has irretrievably broken down and the defendants appear to have fired them," according to court documents.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly later that month ordered to temporarily hold McBride and Geyer's joint motion to withdraw as counsel pending a status hearing.
At that status hearing on Aug. 30, both counsel and the couple told Kollar-Kotelly that they would confer further regarding certain outstanding issues.
At Friday's hearing, court documents state that the couple's unwillingness to communicate with their counsel continued to be an issue.
Both Donald and Shawndale Chilcoat expressed to the court that they are unwilling or unable to proceed with their current defense counsel and are actively seeking new counsel. The couple reported to Kollar-Kotelly that they have meetings scheduled with prospective counsel this week.
"But this is not (the) defendants' first time swapping counsel, and the court will not grant an open-ended period for defendants to find new attorneys," court documents state. "If defendants cannot secure new counsel by October 4, 2024, the court will appoint counsel."
Until then, the court will continue to temporarily hold McBride and Geyer's motion to withdraw so that the couple is not left unrepresented.
The U.S. government on Friday moved for a speedy trial and expressed its position that the couple should stand trial as soon as possible, per court documents. The couple was previously scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 4.
"The court recognizes the government's legitimate concerns about defendants' dilatory behavior in this matter," court documents state. "But proceeding to trial on the present schedule is untenable. Accordingly, the court vacates the present trial date and orders the parties to appear for a status hearing on October 25, 2024."
Shawndale and Donald Chilcoat were arraigned on April 11 on a superseding indictment of an upgraded eight charges, including felony obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The couple were also charged with misdemeanors such as entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining in the gallery of Congress; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and parade, demonstrate or picket in any of the Capitol buildings.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation established the Chilcoats were present at the insurrection from social media posts, phone records and footage from U.S. Capitol Police CCTV and Senate TV recordings, according to a statement of facts provided in a criminal complaint.
