Jan. 6 defendant from Sacramento area rejects plea deal from jail, will head to April trial

A Northern California man accused of assaulting officers with bear spray at the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot in Washington, D.C., has rejected a plea deal from prosecutors and is headed to trial in April, meaning he will have spent nearly two years in custody when his trial on a 10-count indictment begins.

Sean McHugh, an Auburn construction worker who is one of four Sacramento-area residents accused of crimes during the insurrection, appeared in court from jail by video Monday as his new attorney told U.S. District Judge John D. Bates that McHugh wants to face trial rather than take a deal.

Bates set a trial date for April 17, and warned that he will not allow further delays after having postponed the trial twice before as McHugh sought dismissal of some counts and asked that his trial be moved out of Washington.

“Understand this, that April trial date, unless something happens of an extreme nature ... that date is not going to move,” Bates said. “I’m not going to continue this case again.”

Allen, a Branson, Missouri, attorney retained by McHugh after he asked to replace his federal defender, said there would be no further delays of the trial, which is expected to last seven days.

However, Allen added that he plans to file new motions seeking dismissal of some of the charges and to ask for McHugh’s release on bond pending trial, something the judge already has rejected. He also said he would seek dismissal of charges that McHugh was carrying a dangerous weapon during the riot.

Allen told the judge he had traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with McHugh in jail “to talk face to face, to talk the pros and cons” of facing trial.

Lawyers have not disclosed the nature of the plea agreement offered McHugh, who could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in the case.

Prosecutors: McHugh ‘came prepared’ on Jan. 6

McHugh faces the most serious charges of the Sacramento-area defendants, with prosecutors describing his actions on Jan. 6 as pre-planned and deliberate.

“McHugh brought to the Capitol a megaphone, bear spray, and a holster,” a prosecutor wrote in court papers last year. “The defendant came to D.C. prepared for conflict carrying chemical spray for offensive use.

“As he marched with a large crowd to the Capitol he filmed himself with his phone saying: ‘Right now we’re storming the Capitol. We’re going to Congress and we’re gonna let them know that we don’t want them to accept the Electoral College votes’.”

Prosecutors say McHugh used a bullhorn to send protesters toward police officers standing at barricades who were trying to keep the marchers from storming the Capitol to halt the counting of Electoral College votes certifying Joe Biden’s defeat of then-President Donald Trump.

McHugh is seen on video shouting that the officers were “protecting pedophiles” and “protecting communists,” and that he grabbed a metal sign and pushed it into officers, court papers say. Prosecutors also say he used bear spray he carried in a holster on his hip against officers near the Capitol’s West Terrace, something his attorneys have denied.

FBI search found bear spray, text messages

The FBI searched McHugh’s home in May 2021 and found a megaphone, a holster and a canister of bear spray that carried a warning of “irreversible eye damage,” court papers say.

The FBI says it also seized his phone and found a text he sent to someone that read, “I unloaded a whole can of bear spray on a line of cops I got three of them down really really good.”

Before the Jan. 6 riot, McHugh had accumulated a lengthy history of criminal cases in the Sacramento region dating back to 2006, court papers say.

“His criminal history includes violent offenses ranging from vandalism, malicious destruction of private property, burglary, domestic violence, distribution of controlled substances, resisting arrest, and three prior rape offenses...,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing last year. “The vast majority of these offenses occurred while McHugh was on probation and being supervised (just like the instant offense).

“Prior court-ordered conditions have failed to protect the community from McHugh and have failed to dissuade the defendant from committing further crimes.”

McHugh is one of more than 870 people who have been charged nationwide in the insurrection, and one of about 269 defendants facing charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. the Justice Department says.

Girlfriend says he is ‘political prisoner’

He is the only one of the four Sacramento-area defendants to remain in custody, and is the subject of an online fundraising effort started by his girlfriend that calls him a “political prisoner” and says he is “being held in adhorrent (sic) solitary confinement conditions.”

“Sean is just like most conservative American,” the fundraising effort by Amy Hunt says. “He works hard to support his family and run his construction business.

“Sean stood up his country that day like everyone else did that day to peacefully rally for the truth. Sean never imagined the nightmare that he would witness and become trapped in.”

As of Monday, that effort had raised more than $59,000, while a similar effort on behalf of Sacramento-area defendant Jorge Riley had raised $453.

Riley, of Sacramento, is a Republican Party activist who is accused of disorderly conduct by entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot. His case is pending.

A third man, Tommy Frederick Allan of Rocklin, was accused of taking a U.S. flag and some documents from the Senate chamber and pleaded guilty in August to obstruction of an official proceeding and faces sentencing Dec. 8.

Valerie Elaine Ehrke, an Arbuckle home designer, pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of parading or picketing at the Capitol and was sentenced to three years probation, 120 hours of community service and a $500 fine.