SC man linked to Capitol riot and Proud Boys will plead guilty in threat case

A South Carolina man with ties to the Proud Boys and who is alleged to have taken part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has agreed to plead guilty to threatening a former federal prosecutor.

James Giannakos, of Gilbert in Lexington County, has also agreed to give federal authorities “full, complete and truthful information about all criminal activities about which he has knowledge,” according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia.

In return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia has agreed not to seek a stiff sentence for Giannakos on the prosecutor threat case and drop other charges. The maximum Giannakos could get is up to five years in prison on the single charge of making an interstate threat.

Giannakos’ agreement to plead guilty must be accepted by a judge to be finalized. He is being detained without bond in a Columbia area jail.

Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia nor Allen Burnside, Giannakos’ public defender attorney, had any comment on the plea agreement on Tuesday.

On Feb. 3, an armed FBI team executed a search warrant on the Gilbert house where Giannakos was living and seized numerous items — including a Capitol police force riot shield — alleged to have been taken from the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, according to court records.

That warrant in the case says that evidence seized at Giannakos’ house now in possession of the FBI shows “probable cause” that Giannakos “participated in the capital riots of Jan. 6, 2021.”

Giannakos has not yet been charged with any crimes connected with the Jan. 6 riot. However, he is being investigated in connection with the riot for possible charges of assaulting a federal agent, conspiracy to assault federal agents, theft of government property and interstate travel to participate in a riot, federal court records say.

Charges in connection with the mob attack on the Capitol are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia. That office has already brought more than 300 charges against individuals — including four S.C. men — charged with various crimes at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Court records do not link those four men with the Proud Boys or any other militant group associated with the attack.

Giannakos came to the attention of S.C. federal authorities in January when a former federal prosecutor in Florida began receiving threatening emails and voice mails on office telephones at her law firm offices, according to court records.

That former prosecutor had been recently cited in news stories as having identified in a court case Enrique Tarrio, the purported leader of the Proud Boys, as having once been an informant for Florida federal authorities.

“Miss (name of former prosecutor redacted), my name’s James. I just wanted you to know that if anything happens to Mr. Enrique Tarrio, the same thing will happen to you and your family. I cannot believe you released the CI (confidential informant) information, if that’s even true. If anything happens to him, I promise you and your associates will pay for it. You will be held responsible,” said one message left by Giannakos, according to a criminal charging document filed in federal court in Columbia.

The telephone used by Giannakos to make that call was traced to a South Carolina telephone at the house where Giannakos lived in Gilbert, records said.

Besides the Capitol police shield, evidence seized at Giannakos’ house includes guns, pepper spray, a Washington subway map, a 24-inch police baton and military combat gear including a tactical vest, knee pads and eye protection, according to the search warrant return.

Many of the thousands of people who showed up at the Capitol on Jan. 6 came to hear former President Trump and others make speeches that morning falsely asserting that the Nov. 3 presidential election had been stolen from Trump by fraud committed by the Democrats, claims that Trump and his allies failed to prove in numerous courts. Also that day, Congress was engaged in a counting of Electoral College votes that would formally give Biden the presidency and allow him to be sworn in on Jan. 20. President Trump urged protesters to go to the Capitol to urge Congress to overturn the election.

Many protesters were non-violent and did not trespass at the Capitol. But hundreds went on to break through police barricades, break windows and illegally enter the Capitol. Members of Congress fled the House and Senate chambers, halting the formal vote counting by more than six hours. Five people died, including a Capitol police officer in the riot. Dozens of law officers were injured.

The Proud Boys are “an extremist right-wing group that has gained a reputation for leading protests that have often turned violent in cities such as Washington DC and Portland, Ore.,” court records in this case say.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that at least 19 Proud Boys “leaders, members or associates” were now facing charges connected to the Jan. 6 riots.

A District of Columbia federal indictment unsealed last week of four alleged Proud Boys members contained “fresh evidence of how federal officials believe group members planned and carried out a coordinated attack to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory,” the AP reported.

Also seized by the FBI at Giannakos’ house were a Proud Boys “Save America” leaflet and a Proud Boys “riptide” card, court records said.

As part of his plea deal with the government, Giannakos will also have to give up the guns the FBI seized during the search of his house. Those guns were a .38 Taurus revolver, a .22 caliber rifle, a .22 caliber handgun and a .12 gauge shotgun, records said.