N.C. Proud Boy pleads guilty to Jan. 6 conspiracy charge, faces up to 7 years in prison

One of North Carolina’s most prominent figures in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol faces years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to planning and coordinating an attack by members of his right-wing group to stop the transfer of the presidential power.

Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, identified in court documents as state president of the Proud Boys, will be sentenced on two felony charges: conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

Donohoe is one of six Proud Boy members from around the country who are named in a March indictment. He is the first to plead guilty and has promised to testify against his alleged co-conspirators.

Under his agreement with federal prosecutors, Donohoe’s crimes carry a sentencing range of 70 to 87 months as well as a fine of between $25,000 and $250,000. Had he gone to trial, he faced a combined maximum sentence of almost 30 years and a fine of up to $500,000.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly will sentence Donohoe at a later date. Until then, the Marine veteran will remain in custody in North Carolina. He has been held since his March arrest.

Conspiracy is by far the more serious of Donohoe’s two offenses. While other North Carolinians face felony charges for attacking police during the uprising, only Donohoe and Laura Steele, a former High Point police officer, stand accused of taking part in planned and coordinated assaults.

Both also have been named in a pending lawsuit filed by the District of Columbia accusing the Proud Boys and its fellow right-wing group, the Oath Keepers, for planning and carrying out some of the violence.

In all, hundreds of Trump supporters, fueled by the ex-president’s unfounded claims of a stolen election, smashed through the Capitol’s windows and doors, broke into congressional offices and chambers, and injured up to 140 police officers. As many as seven deaths are linked to the violence.

At least 20 North Carolinians — and almost 800 people overall — have been arrested and charged.

A March indictment accuses Donohoe and other named Proud Boys conspirators — including the group’s national chairman Enrique Tarrio — of laying the groundwork for a Capitol assault in the weeks leading up to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on the morning of Jan. 6.

Much of the indictment details the group’s escalating threats of violence leading up to Jan. 6.

“The media constantly accuses us of wanting to start a civil war. Careful what the f*** you ask for. We don’t want to start one ... but we will sure as f*** finish one,” Tarrio wrote on Election Day 2020.

Three weeks later, Tarrio responded to Biden’s call that Americans should fight the coronavirus and not each other.

“No, YOU need to remember the American people are at war with YOU. No Trump ... No peace. No quarter.”

Donohoe chimed in just over a week before Trump’s rally, repeating a rumor that authorities were limiting access to Washington on Jan. 6.

“They want to limit the presence so that they can deny Trump has the People’s support,” he wrote, according to his indictment. “We can’t let them succeed. This government is run FOR the people, BY the people ... Congress needs a reintroduction to that fact.”

According to the indictment, the Proud Boy defendants and other members of the group were among the first to assault police and fight their way into the Capitol.

Donohoe remained outside the building. But government prosecutors accuse him of creating the encrypted messaging channels that he and his fellow conspirators used.

They include:

▪ Tarrio of Miami.

▪ Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Wash.

▪ Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla.

▪ Zachary Rehl of Philadelphia.

▪ Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, N.Y.

Donohoe also threw water bottles at a police line and helped parade a stolen police shield through the west plaza of the Capitol, then bragged about it in an online post, his indictment alleges.

Donohoe’s final punishment falls to Kelly, a 1991 Duke University graduate who was named to his court seat by Trump.

In the past, Kelly has pushed back on government claims of a Proud Boy conspiracy, according to the Washington Post.

On Friday, while leading Donohoe through the details of his plea agreement, the judge discussed how the defendant’s pledge to cooperate with the government could lead prosecutors to push for a lighter sentence.

But only if the government believes Donohoe’s help had been substantial, Kelly cautioned.

Donohoe said he understood. Otherwise, he spoke little during the 45-minute hearing, answering, “yes, your honor,” and “no, your honor” to Kelly’s list of required questions.

This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 3:18 PM with the headline "N.C. Proud Boy pleads guilty to Jan. 6 conspiracy charge, faces up to 7 years in prison."

Michael Gordon

The Charlotte Observer

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Michael Gordon has been the Observer’s legal affairs writer since 2013. He has been an editor and reporter at the paper since 1992, occasionally writing about schools, religion, politics and sports. He spent two summers as “Bikin Mike,” filing stories as he pedaled across the Carolinas.