By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz and Katelyn Polantz | CNN
An Oath Keeper who served as private security for right-wing figures around January 6 pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy Wednesday, becoming the first person charged with seditious conspiracy related to the US Capitol attack to strike a plea deal with the Justice Department.
Joshua James also pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into a group of Oath Keepers it alleged plan to stop the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote.
He faces up to nine years in prison and up to a $300,000 fine, according to the deal read aloud during Wednesday’s hearing.
The development is a major step forward for prosecutors who brought the ambitious case, with some of the most serious charges in the January 6 investigation. Other Capitol riot defendants with ties to the Oath Keepers who did not face sedition charges have already agreed to cooperate.
James, a Purple Heart recipient in the military, was originally arrested in March of last year for his alleged participation in the riot.
Prosecutors previously alleged James was with other Oath Keepers on January 6 who sped toward the Capitol on golf carts. He was accused of unlawfully entering the Capitol on the east side of the building, joining up with other members of the group after exiting the building.
An FBI agent also previously told the court James chauffeured Roger Stone, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump, in a golf cart in Washington the day before January 6. Stone has not been accused of any crime.
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In the subsequent indictment charging James and other Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy, prosecutors alleged that members of the group organized to disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election and “oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power,” stashing weapons and ammunition in a Virginia hotel as part of a quick reaction force and continuing to plot an attack after January 6.
The indictment also alleges that in the aftermath of the riot, while other Oath Keepers plotted whether to take future action, James messaged an associate, “After this … if nothing happens …its war … Civil War 2.0.”