First Capitol Rioter Sentenced for Felony Wants a Do-Over

Paul Hodgkins became the first Jan. 6 defendant to plead guilty to a felony. Now he wants to take it back. In court filings Thursday, Hodgkins’ new attorney Carolyn Stewart said that Hodgkins was rushed into taking a plea deal, which led to an eight-month prison sentence. She alleged that Hodgkins’ former attorney, Patrick Leduc, inaccurately told Hodgkins that all of his charges were felonies and, by pleading guilty, he was unlikely to end up in prison. “One might wonder whose team Mr. Hodgkins’ former attorney was on,” she wrote. Leduc didn’t respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment, but in emails attached to the court filing, he insisted Hodgkins got the best deal. “My strategy paid off to Paul’s benefit,” he told Stewart. “No other Federal defendant who is pleading to a felony will get a sentence better than Paul.”

Hodgkins is seeking to appeal his sentence, even though the deadline for such a request has passed. He’s the only Capitol rioter with a felony charge sentenced to prison to date.