Judge gives Steele time for vacation

Jul. 15—A federal judge has granted the request of a Thomasville woman convicted on charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol to delay her sentencing hearing so she can go on vacation with her family before going to prison.

Laura Lee Steele, 54, had been scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The rescheduling request filed last month by her attorney, Peter Cooper, said that because of the possibility of a prison sentence, "Ms. Steele and her family had planned a short family vacation" that would last "into the first week of September."

In an order filed on Tuesday, Judge Amit Mehta agreed to set a new sentencing date of Sept. 11 — but he did not clear the full final week of August for Steele. He ordered that she still appear at a hearing set to resolve questions involved in sentencing Steele and other members of the Oath Keepers militia who were convicted along with her in March.

"Steele ... shall appear at the Omnibus Sentencing Hearing scheduled for August 29, 2023. The court will not move that hearing," Mehta wrote.

Among the issues that may be decided in the Aug. 29 hearing are two requests Cooper filed in May: a request for a new trial, and a request asking for Mehta to set aside Steele's conviction and declare her acquittal on all charges because of a lack of evidence supporting the charges.

Steele, a former High Point Police Department officer, was part of the third group of Oath Keepers militia members convicted at trial. She was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to prevent members of Congress from discharging their duties, destruction of government property, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, obstructing officers during a civil disorder and tampering with documents or materials.