An associate of Donald Trump has pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere in Georgia’s elections as part of efforts to overturn the former US president’s 2020 defeat.
Former Republican poll watcher Scott Hall is the only one so far of the 19 defendants, including Trump, to plead guilty in the Fulton County, Georgia, conspiracy case, one of four criminal prosecutions filed against the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination.
In a live video of court proceedings Friday, Hall was convicted of five counts of conspiracy to willfully interfere with the performance of election duties, a misdemeanor charge.
The plea agreement calls for Hall to be sentenced to five years’ probation and pay a $US5000 ($A7800) fine, a prosecutor said during the hearing.
He will also have to testify against other defendants in the case.
Hall’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hall, a Georgia bailiff, was initially charged with conspiracy to commit fraud as well as election fraud and computer crimes. He was charged in January 2021 with taking part in an unlawful violation of voting equipment in rural Coffee County in the southeastern part of the state.
Trump’s former lawyer Sidney Powell, one of two defendants set for trial starting next month, is also accused of taking part in the breach. Powell has pleaded not guilty.
Trump has denied doing anything wrong and has said that the matter is part of a political conspiracy.
The former president faces criminal charges in four cases. He has also been impeached in Florida over his handling of classified documents after leaving office, in Washington over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and in New York over hush money given to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Is.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in those cases as well.