An attorney representing a man charged in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot is now threatening to drop him as a client because he’s stiffing him on the legal bills.
Rinaldo Del Gallo III, attorney for Capitol rioter Mark Sahady told the Daily Beast that he hasn’t received payment for his services and Sahady is ignoring his calls.
“‘I have a motion to disappear from the case because (1) my client hasn’t paid me at all for work performed in this case and (2) he is not returning my phone calls,” he said in an email.
Sahady is an Army vet, and vice president of Super Happy Fun America–the group behind the Straight Pride Parade, who lives with his parents in Malden, Massachusetts.
He allegedly took one of the 11 buses provided by his group to Washington D.C.on Jan. 6 where he joined the mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol. He was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted buildings or grounds without authority and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
In late January, a judge ruled that he could be released with conditions that include a ban on organizing any demonstrations and staying away from the Massachusetts State House.
Del Gallo disputed the conditions of his release, saying they are a violation of the defendant’s first amendment rights and a bias against his political views.
“The real reason [for the conditions ] is to limit Mr. Mark Sahady’s speech which is in support of Donald Trump, and opposition to Mr. Sahady’s perceived and honestly held belief in presidential irregularities or election fraud,” he argued in a motion to have Sahady released on personal recognizance.
Del Gallo told the Daily Beast that he did some pro bono work “in the first amendment area” with Sahady’s group in the past. But, all that “seemed to count for nothing, and he clearly has the ability to pay,” he said.
