Farmers, Proud Boys and a former cop: Here are 5 Capitol riot cases from NC to watch
Of North Carolina’s 25 federal defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, 17 await trials or sentencing.
Here are five notable N.C. cases to watch in the coming weeks.
Jan. 20 and Feb. 24: Sentencings of Tara Stottlemyer and Dale ‘D.J.’ Shalvey, Conover
The Pennsylvania transplants, now operating Redemption Farms in Catawba County, could well become North Carolina’s first husband-and-wife Jan. 6 defendants sent to prison.
The couple was living in a small town south of Pittsburgh when they drove to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Since then, they have gotten married, moved to Catawba County and pleaded guilty to felonies in connection with the D.C. violence. Shalvey’s charges also include assaulting a police officer.
As part of the couple’s plea deals with the federal government, Shalvey faces a sentencing range of 41 to 51 months; Stottlemyer, 15 to 21 months.
In two weeks, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Duke University graduate appointed to the federal bench in Washington by former President Donald Trump, will hand down his sentencing decision.
One late change: the couple will not be sentenced together. Shalvey will go first, on Jan. 20. Because of a scheduling conflict involving Stottlemyer’s attorney, her sentencing was moved on Wednesday to Feb. 24.
Feb. 1: Trial of Laura Steele, Thomasville
A February trial will determine if Steele becomes North Carolina’s first former law enforcement officer sent to prison due to her actions on Jan. 6.
Steele, a retired High Point police officer whose husband is the department’s assistant chief, has been implicated in what prosecutors describe as a conspiracy by the Oath Keepers to forcibly overthrow the election. She will be tried next month on more than 40 charges, including multiple counts of felonies and misdemeanors alike.
According to court documents, Steele joined the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group that heavily recruits former police and military, a few days before driving to Washington on Jan. 6.
There, she and other members used a military “stack formation” to force their way into the Capitol.
She will be tried alongside seven other members of the group. Her brother, Graydon Young, an Oath Keeper from Florida who convinced Steele to join, has already pleaded guilty.
In October, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, a Barack Obama appointee, amended Steele’s home detention so she could receive mental health treatment.
Feb. 2: Sentencing of Aiden Bilyard, Cary
One of the youngest defendants in the sprawling prosecution faces the longest prison sentence handed down to date to a North Carolinian.
Bilyard was only 18 when he drove to D.C. from Wake County to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. He wound up at the Capitol where he was caught on camera in the middle of the mob, firing chemical spray at police. He then used a baseball bat to break out a window, which he and other rioters used as a portal into the building.
Bilyard was originally charged with nine crimes, five of them felonies. As part of a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in October to assaulting a police officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison.
U.S. Senior District Judge Reggie Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, will have the final say. In October, Walton indicated he would not give Bilyard’s age much deference. His order to have Bilyard jailed until his sentencing came with a lecture.
“Eighteen is old enough to know right from wrong,” Walton said. “... (T)o see this kind of violence, police fighting for their lives ... yet you don’t get to the mindset at some point that ‘This is wrong, and I’ve got to stop’?
“It is just something that is chilling and beyond the pale.”
Feb. 21: The trial of Brad Bennett, Huntersville
Bennett, who at the time of his arrest was described as a survivalist trainer, enters a new wilderness next month during his trial:
As of now, Bennett is scheduled to represent himself.
The potential consequences of that decision are significant. Bennett is charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence. He also faces five misdemeanor charges.
Prosecutors don’t accuse Bennett of specific acts of violence. Instead, they say, Bennett used his social media pages to whip up anger before and after the Capitol siege.
“TODAY WAS A REVOLUTIONARY MESSAGE,” Bennett roared in an all-caps Facebook mini-manifesto posted that day. “WE WON’T GO AWAY. WE WILL FIND VICTORY.”
Before his April 2021 arrest in Charlotte, prosecutors say Bennett used his survivalist skills to avoid the FBI for three weeks.
In U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s courtroom in Washington next month, Bennett may find it harder to hide.
January: Proud Boys trial, testimony of Jeremy Bertino, Belmont
Bertino, a ranking member of the Proud Boys, is the last North Carolinian charged for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. His crime — seditious conspiracy — is the most serious charge handed down by prosecutors.
Bertino pleaded guilty in October to helping plan a violent Proud Boy assault on the Capitol to block certification of Trump’s defeat and keep the defeated president in office. He has now promised to testify against his former co-conspirators if asked to do so.
That means Bertino could surface as a key witness in the six-week trial of Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio and other members of the right-wing militia group. Jury selection started Dec. 19, and the trial is expected to last well into the new year.
In return for his cooperation, prosecutors say Bertino may receive a reduced sentence. But he also may have put his life in danger. In an October court filing, prosecutors said they may hide Bertino in a witness-protection program.
N.C. Proud Boys president Charles Donohoe of Kernersville could also provide key testimony.
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Farmers, Proud Boys and a former cop: Here are 5 Capitol riot cases from NC to watch."
