The first Jan. 6 defendant who pleaded guilty to a felony now wants to take it back, the Washington Post reports.
Paul Hodgkins, 38, was sentenced to eight months in prison in July after he pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing of Congress.
Now Hodgkins’ new attorney Carolyn Stewart said in a new filing on Thursday that he was rushed into taking a plea deal by his former attorney, Patrick Leduc. Stewart argued that Leduc inaccurately told Hodgkins that all the charges against him were felonies and that he would likely not receive jail time if he pleaded guilty, according to the Washington Post.
“One might wonder whose team Mr. Hodgkins’ former attorney was on,” Stewart wrote in the filing.
In emails exchanged with Stewart, Leduc insisted that the got the best deal he could for Hodgkins.
“My strategy paid off to Paul’s benefit,” he wrote. “No other Federal defendant who is pleading to a felony will get a sentence better than Paul.”
The deadline for Hodgkins to appeal his sentence has passed but Stewart said he should be granted more time because he was not fully informed of his rights.
