Prosecutors: A ‘network’ of supporters helped fugitives avoid capture after Capitol riot

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man charged with interfering with police in the course of the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol is linked to a “community” of supporters who’ve helped different Capitol riot defendants keep away from seize by the FBI, prosecutors stated in a court docket submitting this week.

A federal decide on Thursday ordered Thomas Paul Osborne to be launched from a Florida jail whereas he awaits trial on costs that he grabbed a police officer’s baton throughout a mob’s assault on the Capitol. Earlier than the decide dominated, a Justice Division prosecutor argued that Osborne poses a threat of fleeing after his Feb. 22 arrest.

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Osborne harbored a Jan. 6 defendant, Christopher Worrell, who disappeared final yr after he was convicted of assaulting police with pepper spray in the course of the Capitol riot, prosecutors stated. They consider Worrell, a member of the Proud Boys extremist group, lived at Osborne’s house in Lakeland, Florida, for roughly six weeks whereas on the run.

Prosecutors additionally cited Osborne’s ties to the household of Jonathan Pollock and Olivia Pollock — a brother and sister from Lakeland who had been declared fugitives after getting charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. Osborne traveled to Washington, D.C., with the Pollocks and their dad and mom to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally close to the White Home on Jan. 6.

In January 2024, FBI brokers arrested the Pollocks and a 3rd fugitive, Joseph Hutchinson, at a ranch in Groveland, Florida. Jonathan Pollock had remained at giant for over two years. Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson had been on the run for roughly 10 months after tampering with their court-ordered GPS monitoring units.

Osborne labored at a gun store operated by a brother of the Pollock siblings and attended the identical church and prayer conferences as members of the Pollock household, based on prosecutors.

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Federal authorities consider that kin of the Pollocks helped the siblings keep away from seize. Supporters gave them cash and provides and helped them “by coordinating a community of people who had been prepared and in a position to harbor them,” prosecutors stated in a court docket submitting. Authorities haven’t accused Osborne of sheltering the Pollocks however cited his ties to the household as a cause to worry that he might abscond.

“Whereas Osborne could not have a passport or international ties,” prosecutors wrote, “the issues offered by his entry to the Pollocks’ community are the identical: he has the means to flee and keep away from detection by regulation enforcement.”

Osborne’s legal professionals accused prosecutors of participating in “guilt by affiliation” to argue that he, just like the Pollocks and Hutchinson, is a flight threat. Protection lawyer Sylvia Irvin stated Osborne initially tried to show himself in to face doable Capitol riot costs in July 2021, a day after Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson initially had been arrested.

“He didn’t cover. He didn’t run,” Irvin informed the decide.

Osborne is charged with 4 counts, together with a felony cost of civil dysfunction and three misdemeanors. He pleaded not responsible to the fees on Thursday.

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FBI brokers discovered a number of weapons, packed “go-bags” and a few of Worrell’s belongings once they searched Osborne’s house in December 2023.

After his conviction however earlier than his sentencing, Worrell lower his GPS monitor and vanished in August 2023. The FBI arrested him the next month at his girlfriend’s house in Florida, a roughly two-hour drive from the place Osborne lived. Worrell finally was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

A federal Justice of the Peace decide in Tampa, Florida, initially ordered Osborn to stay jailed in pretrial detention. U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., overruled the Justice of the Peace and ordered Osborne to stay confined to a sister’s house in Susquehanna Pennsylvania, after his launch from jail.

The decide warned Osborne of the results if he flees.

“There isn’t a level in working since you’re ultimately going to get caught,” Mehta stated throughout Thursday’s distant listening to. “Working solely makes issues worse.”

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