Former President Donald Trump’s attorney, Sidney Powell, has recently pleaded guilty to six criminal charges in a case in Georgia related to alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election. A Georgia judge had earlier decided to separate Powell and attorney Kenneth Chesebro from the 18 co-defendants, including Trump.
In lieu of her guilty plea, the charges levelled against Powell included six Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges. Among these were two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to defraud the state, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, and conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy.
As a first offender, Powell was sentenced to six years of probation, and she was ordered to pay a fine of $6,000, in addition to restitution of $2,700 to the Georgia secretary of state. An obligatory part of her plea agreement, Powell is also set to testify against her co-defendants.
A Georgia grand jury had indicted Powell along with Trump and 17 other co-defendants in August. The indictment alleged that Powell and others tampered with electronic ballot machines and deleted voting data from Dominion Voting Systems machines during the 2020 US presidential election. It was also claimed that she had caused her co-defendants to possess official ballots outside of official polling places.
Furthermore, allegations were raised that Powell was to be appointed by Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, as a special counsel to investigate supposed voting fraud in Georgia. Due to her plea, Powell’s trial, which was initially set for October 23 in a Georgia courtroom, will no longer proceed.