Kenneth Chesebro takes last-minute plea deal in Georgia election interference case

ByOlivia Rubin ABCNews logo
Friday, October 20, 2023
Trump co-defendant Sidney Powell takes plea deal on eve of GA trial
Sidney Powell, one of 18 co-defendants in former President Donald Trump's election interference case in Georgia, has taken a plea deal in which she has agreed to testify in the case.

Kenneth Chesebro, a co-defendant in former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, has taken a last-minute plea deal in the case.

The deal comes after the jury selection process had gotten underway Friday.

FILE - Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, appears before Judge Scott MacAfee during a motions hearing on Oct. 10, 2023, in Atlanta.
(Alyssa Pointer/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Chesebro, an attorney, was facing seven counts after prosecutors said he drafted a strategy to use so-called "alternate electors" to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes in the 2020 election, according to the Fulton County DA's indictment.

The plea comes a day after former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell took a plea deal in which she received probation in exchange for agreeing to testify in the case.

Powell and Chesebro were both originally scheduled to go to trial next week after both demanded speedy trials.

Chesebro, according to sources, last month rejected a similar plea deal with the state, ABC News was first to report.

Powell, Chesebro, Trump, and 16 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state of Georgia.

Chesebro becomes the third defendant in the case to strike a plea agreement. Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall last month took a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to tampering with voting machine equipment and received probation in exchange for agreeing to testify at the trial of other co-defendants.

MORE | Trump co-defendant Scott Hall takes plea deal in Georgia election interference case

This is a developing story. Please come back for more updates.