Sep. 14—A Kernersville man who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of Proud Boys leaders in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol will be sentenced just a few days before Christmas, according to a new court filing.
A brief joint status report filed Tuesday by prosecutors and the attorney for Charles “Charley” Donohoe, who has been held behind bars for about 30 months since his arrest, suggested scheduling a sentencing hearing sometime from Dec. 18 to Dec. 22.
Donohoe pleaded guilty in April 2022 to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding police. According to the plea documents, the sentencing guidelines may call for a prison sentence somewhere around six years, though the judge can vary from that. Prosecutors and the defense will file their sentencing recommendations in advance of the December hearing.
Donohoe, who led a regional chapter of the far-right Proud Boys group and reportedly was in charge of setting up the group’s encrypted chat channels leading up to Jan. 6, originally had been charged alongside other Proud Boys leaders. Shortly after his plea and agreement to cooperate with prosecutors, the charges against the other Proud Boy leaders were amended to include the far more serious charge of seditious conspiracy.
The joint status report does not make any reference to how much help Donohoe may have provided to prosecutors.
Though his plea agreement called for him to testify at trial, Donohoe was never called at the Proud Boys leaders’ trial earlier this year, when former national leader Enrique Tarrio and three lieutenants were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes. Tarrio was sentenced earlier this month to 33 years in prison. Sentences for others convicted along with him ranged from 10 to 18 years.