A trial may be delayed for George Tanios, former owner of a Morgantown sandwich shop accused of collaborating to assault U.S. Capitol police officers with pepperspray, after lawyers for his co-defendant asked for more time to pursue a plea deal.
Tanios has pleaded not guilty to this point, preparing for a jury trial over the coming months.
But after a motion by Khater’s legal team raised the possibility of a plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan issued orders this week holding deadlines for pre-trial filings in abeyance and setting a new status conference for 11 a.m. April 11.
Khater’s motion makes brief reference to the lawyers for Tanios, but Tanios’ defenders did not sign on and have not submitted their own filing about the trial.
Earlier this year, the judge had set a June 6 trial date for Tanios and his alleged accomplice Julian Khater, who are accused of working together in a Jan. 6 assault outside the U.S. Capitol.
Tanios is accused of passing the pepperspray to Khater, who aimed it at police officers including Brian Sicknick, who later died. A medical examiner concluded that Sicknick died of natural causes after suffering two strokes.
This Monday, lawyers for Khater submitted a motion to hold off on preparations for the trial. They indicated the motion was made with the consent of the other attorneys in the case, including federal prosecutors. Among the lawyers referenced was Beth Gross, a West Virginia defender representing Tanios.
“Notably, this request is made to afford the parties additional time to continue their meaningful discussions about a potential resolution of this matter.” wrote the lawyers for Khater.
The motion noted that some pretrial motions had been filed already over the past few weeks, including a motion by Tanios to dismiss one of the felony counts.
“Notwithstanding the foregoing, the defense has had meaningful discussions with the government about a potential resolution of this matter and is hopeful that such discussions may conclude successfully so as to obviate the need for a trial,” wrote lawyers for Khater.
“And, significantly, if that were to occur, it would not only avoid the unnecessary expenditure of judicial resources but avoid officers, and their family members, involved in the events of January 6th from having to bear the emotional toll of a trial.”
Tanios and Khater are charged with nine counts including assaulting three officers with a deadly weapon. The charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
When Judge Hogan set a trial date for Tanios and Khater earlier this year, he suggested that reality might be a motivating factor in plea discussions. “It focuses people once we have a trial date, to get the work done,” he said.
Tanios and Khater are among 725 arrested in various crimes for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The mob storming the U.S. Capitol disrupted the constitutional duty of counting Electoral College votes and prompted the evacuations of representatives, senators and Vice President Mike Pence. One woman was fatally shot while trying to climb into the chambers, three others died from “medical emergencies” and more than 100 police officers were injured.
Of the thousands of protesters in Washington, D.C., that day, about 800 went into the Capitol, police have said.
West Virginians facing federal charges of entering the Capitol that day are former Parkersburg Councilman Eric Barber, former state Delegate Derrick Evans of Wayne County, who resigned after being charged, and college senior Gracyn Courtright of Hurricane.
Courtright has been serving that at FDC Philadelphia and was set for release on Tuesday.
Barber’s sentencing, following his guilty plea, had been set for this Thursday. But federal prosecutors, with cooperation from Barber’s attorney, asked for a delay because one of the attorneys experienced a death in the family.
Evans pleaded guilty earlier this month to a civil disorder charge. A sentencing hearing has been set for 12:30 p.m. June 26.