Jan. 6 fugitives from Polk held without bond in first court appearance after capture

The warning poster from the FBI suggested that Jonathan Pollock might be hiding in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee or Texas.

As it turned out, Pollock was captured about 45 miles north of his family home in the Kathleen area.

The FBI announced Saturday morning, on the third anniversary of the U.S. Capitol attack, that agents had found and arrested Pollock; his sister, Olivia Pollock; and their friend, Joseph Hutchinson III, at a ranch in Groveland, a small city in southern Lake County.

All three had been labeled fugitives, their images appearing on FBI wanted posters. The three face a range of charges, including assaulting police officers, for their alleged actions outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The arrests prompt a series of questions: Had Jonathan Pollock been at the Groveland location since fleeing his family’s North Lakeland property before an FBI raid on June 30, 2021? Had Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson both gone immediately to the same location after disabling their GPS monitors shortly before their scheduled trials last March?

Did the Pollocks’ parents or other family members assist their efforts to elude law enforcement or visit them at the hideout in Lake County?

Did the FBI receive a tip about the fugitives’ location, having offered a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to Jonathan Pollock’s arrest and conviction?

Will prosecutors issue charges for the owner of the property where the three were captured?

As of Monday, the FBI was not providing answers to those questions. Andrea Aprea, a spokesperson for the agency’s Tampa office, said the FBI had no details to share beyond the brief news release it issued Saturday morning announcing the arrests.

“Regarding your question about rewards, whether or not the reward money is paid, and to whom, is not information law enforcement will share with the public,” Aprea said by email.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not answer an emailed question Monday about its possible involvement in the capture of the trio. A spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff's Department said it had no knowledge of the FBI operation.

Jonathan Pollock, 24, Olivia Pollock, 33, and Hutchinson, 27, had their first court appearance since their arrests Monday afternoon in Ocala before Judge Phillip Lammens of U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Lammens ordered all three to be detained without bond, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

'There's federal sentencing guidelines'

Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson will almost certainly face additional charges after violating the terms of their pre-trial release. U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey released both on their own recognizance in July 2021 and approved the conditions of high intensity supervision programs.

Under Harvey’s order, Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson had to surrender their weapons, faced restrictions on their travel and were required to wear ankle bracelets for electronic monitoring. The order specified penalties that Pollock and Hutchinson could face if they violated the terms of their release.

For a defendant convicted of an offense punishable by a prison term of five years or more but less than 15 years, violation of release terms may bring an extra sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000 or both, the order says. For convictions on a felony with a lesser sentence, the possible extra penalty is up to two years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

Any prison sentence for failure to appear or surrender is imposed consecutive to the sentences given for the initial charges, not concurrent with them, the order states.

Locals share different opinions Why did this quiet Florida town produce 4 Capitol riot suspects?

Kevin McMunigal, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a former federal prosecutor, said the three will likely receive longer prison sentences if convicted than they would have without their fleeing authorities.

“There's federal sentencing guidelines, and one of the things that will get you a reduction under the guidelines is acceptance of responsibility,” McMunigal said. “That’s a big one there for people when they plead guilty. The idea is that if you accept responsibility, you're more likely to be rehabilitated.”

He added: “They might well plead guilty to the charges and still argue for acceptance of responsibility, but it would be hard for them to really make that case with the flight.”

Details of the accusations

The Pollocks and Hutchinson traveled to Washington, D.C., with a group that included the Pollocks’ cousin, Joshua Doolin of Polk City, and another friend, Michael Perkins of Plant City, to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally organized by former President Donald Trump and his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, court documents show.

The group joined a throng of Trump supporters outside the Capitol to protest a joint meeting of Congress taking place to certify the Electoral College votes and establish that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election. The Polk County contingent advanced to an exterior terrace, with some engaging in violent confrontations with police officers who were defending the building, prosecutors allege.

None is accused of entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

Arrest affidavits and court records contain photos, videos and descriptions of Jonathan Pollock and Hutchinson allegedly assaulting police officers outside the Capitol, most of the images taken from officers’ body-worn cameras.

A bearded man, identified by the FBI as Jonathan Pollock, is seen wearing camouflage attire and a ballistic plate-carrier vest with “distinctive military morale patches,” as well as green kneepads and brown tactical gloves with molded plastic knuckles. Photos and video show the man fighting with officers who sought to keep a swarm of rioters from approaching the Capitol.

Video images depict the man rushing from a crowd to tackle an officer and later throwing punches at two officers before squeezing his hands around the neck of another fallen officer. The bearded man later approaches an officer from behind, grasps him by the shoulders and shoves him toward the ground.

Images show the man identified as Pollock ripping a plastic riot shield away from an officer and using it as a weapon to charge at and strike other officers. At the Upper West Terrace, Pollock climbed onto bleachers, grabbed an officer by the shoulders and tried to throw him over a metal railing, an arrest affidavit alleges.

Pollock charged to the mouth of a tunnel at the entrance to the Capitol on the Lower West Terrace, prosecutors allege. He then pushed a riot shield into the officers, pinning their shields and preventing them from defending against the attacks, the affidavit says.

Photos and video in an arrest affidavit show Hutchinson, a heavyset man with a reddish-brown beard, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap and a ballistic plate-carrier vest outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors allege.

A court filing from April 2022 described Hutchinson’s conduct at the U.S. Capitol as “particularly egregious.” According to the document, in less than 30 minutes, “he participated in four separate assaults on law enforcement officers, several in close coordination with Jonathan Pollock.”

Another sentence: Ex-Lakeland resident Corinne Montoni sentenced to 30 days for role in US Capitol attack

The affidavit includes photos of a woman identified as Olivia Pollock standing on a terrace of the Capitol, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with a white flag insignia, a green headband and a tan, ballistic plate-carrier vest.

All three face charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding law-enforcement officers; violent entry; and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The charges carry maximum penalties of more than 30 years in prison.

Doolin and Perkins were found guilty in their trials last March. Doolin received a sentence of 18 months in prison and Perkins 48 months.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: After capture, Polk's Jan. 6 fugitives likely to face extra charges