SC couple charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot likely to plead guilty, lawyer says

A Charleston-area couple plan to plead guilty to charges related to the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, their attorney said Tuesday in a virtual hearing before a federal judge.

John Hubert Getsinger Jr. and his wife, Stacie Ann Hargis-Getsinger, of Berkeley County’s Hanahan, will likely plead guilty to misdemeanor charges during a hearing scheduled on Dec. 2. They were represented by attorney Charles George.

“We have a plea agreement that we believe we are ready to execute so that we can move this more down the highway,” George told U.S. Judge Emmet Sullivan, who was located in a Washington courtroom.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks said at Tuesday’s hearing he has told George he is considering asking the judge for some prison time for the Getsingers, who face misdemeanor charges.

“I did tell him that I wanted his clients to be on notice that it would be (only) a very slim chance I would recommend probation under the circumstances in the case, ... and there’s a chance there would be a recommendation of some time of imprisonment,” Franks said.

Sullivan said he is wrestling with what would be the proper sentence for defendants, like the Getsingers, who have no criminal record and face only misdemeanor charges. Moreover, unlike some defendants who are charged with violently assaulting police officers, the couple is not charged with any overt violent actions against law officers or property.

“I’m not trying to scare anyone,” the judge said, “but the parties need to be able to discuss deterrence, because deterrence to others is a factor when accepting pleas of guilty.”

If the couple’s lawyers are going to argue for a home confinement or probation, they need to be able to argue convincingly that that kind of light sentence “serves as an appropriate deterrent for this type of conduct going forward,” the judge said.

“I want people to start thinking about that. What happened on Jan. 6 was very serious,” the judge said.

Sentencing will not take place until early 2022, a few months after the formal guilty plea on Dec. 2.

The Getsingers were among thousands who stormed the Capitol in support of then-President Donald Trump, who falsely told a crowd on Jan. 6 that Democrats stole the Nov. 3 election by committing widespread voter fraud. Once in the Capitol, the crowd shut down Congress, trying to prevent lawmakers from certifying now President Joe Biden’s election.

Trump’s allies filed some 60 court challenges to votes in battleground states. Judges rejected all but one because they had no factual basis. Former Attorney General William Barr also said at the time that federal investigations had found no widespread voter fraud in the Nov. 3 election.

Though they’ll likely plead guilty in December, the Getsingers entered a formal plea of not guilty Tuesday.

The charges against them, some of which will likely be dropped in the event of a plea deal, now include:

▪ Entering and remaining in a restricted building where Vice President Mike Pence and then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were.

▪ Engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct in the U.S. Capitol and that conduct “did in fact impede and disrupt” government business and functions

▪ “Willfully and knowingly engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct” within the Capitol.

Neither the prosecutor nor defense attorney George specified which charges might be dropped in any plea deal.

The FBI arrested the Getsingers in June after four people called an FBI tip line separately to report information they had about the couple making claims about being in the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

One caller told the FBI that a video exists of the Getsingers entering the Capitol, saying, “This is War! We’re storming the Capitol!” the complaint said. Another informant told the FBI that Stacie had posted on her Facebook page, “The (presidential) election was rigged, and this ain’t over,” the complaint said.

All criminal charges against the alleged Jan. 6 rioters are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia.

Only one South Carolinian, Andrew Hatley, has so far pleaded guilty to charges related to Jan. 6.

In September, Hatley pleaded guilty to riot-related charges and admitted he deliberately tried to disrupt Congress during the electoral certification vote. Hatley will be sentenced Dec. 16 by U.S. Judge Thomas Hogan.

“In the eight months since Jan. 6, more than 600 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including at least 185 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing,” said a statement on the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s web site.

This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 12:55 PM with the headline "SC couple charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot likely to plead guilty, lawyer says."