(TNS) — When Fulton County prosecutors huddled with lawyers for Jenna Ellis, they said the former Trump campaign lawyer could resolve her case by pleading guilty to being part of a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
“That was about a three-second conversation,” Frank Hogue, one of Ellis’s attorneys, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an exclusive interview. “Long enough to say, ‘No, we’re not doing RICO.’”
But over the course of about three days, a more palatable offer came into focus. Hogue and his wife and co-counsel, Laura, met with prosecutors at the Fulton District Attorney’s downtown office on Oct. 23 and had struck a deal by mid-afternoon. Because Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee was unavailable, Ellis and her team waited until the following morning to appear in court.
Momentum for Ellis’ plea agreement to a single felony count was sparked by the surprise guilty pleas of two other lawyers indicted in the case — Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro — just ahead of the start of their speedy trial, according to Hogue in an interview with the AJC’s award-winning legal podcast, Breakdown.
“I think what really accelerated it was Powell and Chesebro falling as they did, one right after the other,” Hogue said, declining to say whether prosecutors or the defense reached out first. “It looked like timing was of the essence for us.”
Ellis pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. She was sentenced under the First Offender Act to five years probation, which could end after three years with good behavior. Ellis agreed to cooperate with prosecutors going forward, making her a potential star witness against former President Donald Trump and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom she worked closely with in the weeks following the 2020 election.
Hogue said a priority during negotiations with the DA’s office was to ensure that Ellis could keep her law license — or at least not close the door to the possibility.