OAN Staff Avril Elfi
Monday, August 5, 2024 4:37 PM
A federal judge has ordered that property seized in connection with a lawsuit against U.S. Capitol protester Jacob Chansley be returned to the government.
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On Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the government to return his possessions, including a “six-foot spear” and a “fur headdress with horns.”
Given the recent Supreme Court decision that reduced the main charges against Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman,” federal prosecutors argued that his assets should remain under government control in case he challenges his conviction.
But Lamberth said, “Because Chansley has been sentenced and has withdrawn his direct appeal and his motion has been denied, it is unclear how he will be able to challenge his conviction.”
“But the government has not explained why it would need his assets to prove Mr. Chansley’s guilt,” Lamberth continued. “The voluminous video and photographic evidence of Mr. Chansley’s conduct on January 6th is indispensable.NumberSince 2021, this property has been of little use to investigations or prosecutions.”
Lamberth cited the Justice Department’s consideration of pursuing civil forfeiture in recent court filings as a reason to deny Chansley’s request for the return of his assets.
“If the government had sought civil forfeiture by now, Mr. Chansley’s claims may have had a different outcome. However, the Court sees no reason to delay or deny Mr. Chansley relief based on a hypothetical future election of the government to take steps it could have already taken,” Lamberth wrote.
In September 2021, Chansley entered into a plea agreement to plead guilty to a felony charge of obstructing official business, which resulted in five additional charges against him being dismissed. Chansley has served his sentence and is on supervised release.
In November of that year, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison, but after a year and a half he was transferred to a rehabilitation facility, where his sentence could be reduced if he behaves well during his incarceration.
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