Oath Keeper, daycare owner pleads guilty to conspiracy, obstruction in Capitol riot

A child daycare owner from Florida who joined the far-right Oath Keepers militia in December and stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 with other militia members pled guilty to conspiracy and obstruction charges Wednesday and agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation.

Sarasota County resident Graydon Young’s plea deal is a significant development in the federal government’s effort to prosecute 16 Oath Keepers accused of conspiring to stop, delay or hinder the certification of the Electoral College vote.

The Oath Keepers indictment is one of the most closely watched cases stemming from the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol because it involves an alleged conspiracy by an extremist group to help overturn the election, with planning that began well before Jan. 6.

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Young’s decision to plead guilty and cooperate with authorities could help the government prosecute other Oath Keepers. As part of Young’s plea deal he agreed to testify before a grand jury, sit down for interviews with law enforcement officers and turn over evidence.

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In exchange, the government agreed to drop four other charges against Young. He still faces up to 25 years in prison for the two remaining charges, but based on his lack of a prior criminal record and other factors federal sentencing guidelines call for between 63 and 78 months in prison.

Prosecutors could ask the court to lower Young’s sentence even further based on his level of cooperation.

Federal guidelines also call for Young to pay between $50,000 and $500,000 in fines, and the court ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution for damage to the U.S. Capitol.

Young is being prosecuted in federal court in Washington D.C.. He appeared in front of Judge Amit Mehta Wednesday. In a series of terse “yes sir” responses to questions, Young acknowledged his role in the Capitol riot and his intention to disrupt the Electoral College vote count.

"Young admitted to intending to stop or delay the Congressional proceeding by intimidating and coercing government personnel who were participating in or supporting the proceeding," the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release.

A U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Reserve veteran, Young's involvement in the plot appears to have begun when he emailed a membership application to the Florida Oath Keepers on Dec. 3 with the message: “Looking to get involved in helping…”

So far seven Florida Oath Keepers have been charged with participating in the conspiracy.

Young is a resident of Englewood in southern Sarasota County. The other Florida Oath Keepers charged include Joseph Hackett, 51, a Sarasota chiropractor; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, a Titusville Army veteran; William Isaacs, 21, of Kissimmee and Jason Dolan, 44, a former security guard at the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach. They also include a married couple, Kelly, 52, and Connie, 59, Meggs of Dunnellon.

Kelly Meggs is described in the indictment as the leader of the Florida Oath Keepers.

Young, who used the alias “GenXPatriot,” appears to have been involved in Oath Keepers training efforts. He emailed a firearms training company on Dec. 26, according to the indictment. In the email Young says that he has “joined Oath Keepers” and wants to set up rifle training for four individuals.

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Young flew from Sarasota to North Carolina on Jan. 4 and drove with his sister the next day to the Washington D.C. area.

On Jan. 6 the Oath Keepers group operated like a paramilitary unit, as Young and the six other Oath Keepers from Florida joined with Oath Keepers from Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Alabama to advance on the Capitol.

Members of the group donned camouflage uniforms, helmets, armored tactical vests, gloves, goggles and radios as they moved up the steps of the Capitol in a “stack” formation, each with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them.

The Oath Keepers stack joined with the larger pro-Trump mob to breach the Capitol, where the stack eventually moved into the Capitol Rotunda.

Members of the group face a long list of charges, including destruction of government property. One is charged with assaulting a police officer and a number face charges of obstructing, impeding or interfering with an officer.

The indictment states the group began planning “at least as early” as Election Day.

On Nov. 9, an individual identified as “Person One” in the indictment, believed to be the Oath Keepers national leader Stewart Rhodes, convened an online meeting attended by Hackett, Kelly Meggs and Harrelson.

“We’re going to defend the president, the duly elected president … Because if you don’t, guys, you’re going to be in a bloody, bloody civil war and a bloody — you can call it an insurrection or you can call it a war or a fight,” Person One said, according to the indictment, before urging people to go to Washington, D.C.

Follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor Zac Anderson on Twitter at @zacjanderson. He can be reached at zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Oath Keeper Graydon Young pleads guilty to two Capitol riot charges