“Pezzola has indicated that he wants to start the negotiations on the mindset and that he accepts responsibility for his actions,” Jonathan Zucker wrote.
Hundreds were charged while the FBI investigated the country for those seen at the Capitol that day, including a large and growing number of so-called Proud Boys.
Members of the group are described by prosecutors as exceptionally well-organized and coordinated, with hearing aids and dressed in military equipment.
Pezzola was also repeated during Trump’s indictment last week: Democrats prosecuting the case cited his name 12 times as an example of the worst offenders to cross the Capitol that day.
They also noted that in earlier legal supporters, he attributed his actions to the former president’s call to reverse the 2020 election results.
“Pezzola came to the Capitol on January 6 with deadly intentions,” Del said. Stacey Plaskett (DV.I.), one of nine managers of the house charges, said. “He ordered a Capitol Police shield, used it to break a glass window, entered the Capitol and paved the way for dozens of insurgents.”
Pezzola’s lawyer now says he never intended to commit violence against other people, that he has no criminal record and that he probably slept during a car ride when other Proud Boys discussed plans to return to the Capitol times to commit additional violence on Inauguration Day.
“Since his arrest, having had time to reflect and see how things came to light, he now realizes that he has been deceived into these misconceptions,” Zucker wrote.
Zucker also said that he and his client believe that another member of the Proud Boys – one who is much more involved in the group and is accused on January 6 of spraying the police with pepper spray – worked together to to avoid complaint. .
“While the defense may not be sure, it is believed that the ‘cooperating witness’ who made these allegations is actually someone who was a much more active participant in the ‘Proud Boys’ than Pezzola,” Zucker wrote.
Pezzola now promises to renounce his participation in the Proud Boys or any like-minded group.
“He acknowledges that at some point he will have to suffer punishment for his actions, regardless of whether it was undertaken with honorable but wrong intentions,” Zucker wrote.