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Utah has seen its Jan. 6 defendants almost double since last anniversary

Posted at 5:19 PM, Jan 04, 2024
and last updated 2024-01-04 19:26:37-05

SALT LAKE CITY — Connecticut, Iowa, Nevada all have about the same population as Utah, yet none have as many residents charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a database maintained by NPR. Fifteen Utahns have been charged with offenses.

Seven of those were charged in the last year as the FBI continues to investigate who assaulted and overran police and pushed their way into the building as Congress was certifying the results of the presidential election.

The Utahns continue to churn through the federal court system. Salt Lake City attorney Scott C. Williams has represented two defendants who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of unlawfully entering the Capitol.

“My clients stood up, took responsibility and it’s behind them,” he said.

Williams said federal prosecutors have made efforts to differentiate the actions of the 1,200 people nationwide charged in the insurrection.

“Tiers tended to be trespassing,” Williams said, “to trespassing with damaging property, trespassing with assaulting, trespassing with hurting, injuring.”

Some of the suspects who called Williams – not all of whom he ultimately represented, he said – didn’t realize they had broken the law on Jan. 6.

Williams also represented suspects charged after Salt Lake City’s 2020 George Floyd riots. He sees a similarity with how government lawyers have prosecuted the Jan. 6 cases.

“They tried to be proportionate both in the jurisdictions that they charged people in for their activity,” Williams said, “and what charges they brought and at the end of the day, even with similar charges, what penalties they sought.”

“I didn’t see things that offended my sense of justice,” Williams said of his dealings with the Jan. 6 cases.

Pleaded guilty and sentenced:

  • Justin Dee Adams, 49, of West Jordan, convicted of one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding police. Sentenced to 17 months in prison and 12 months of supervised release.
  • Bradley Bokoski, of Eagle Mountain, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to 36 months of probation and $500 restitution.
  • Janet Buhler, 59, of Kaysville, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to 30 days in jail and 36 months of probation.
  • Landon Copeland, 36, of Hildale, convicted of a felony count of assaulting resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon. Sentenced to three years in prison and three years of supervised release.
  • Michael Lee Hardin, 52, of Kaysville, one of Williams’ clients, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to 18 months of probation and 60 hours of community service.
  • Landon Manwaring, 33, of Vernal, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to 35 months of probation.
  • Susan Manwaring, 60, of Vernal, one of Williams’ clients, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to three years of supervised release.
  • Willard “Jake” Peart, 48, of Toquerville, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to three years of probation.
  • Jacob K. Wiedrich, 26, of Sandy, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol. Sentenced to three months of home confinement and three years of probation.

Pleaded guilty and awaiting sentencing:

  • Israel M. Matson, of Ogden, convicted of a misdemeanor count of demonstrating, picketing or parading at the Capitol.
  • John E. Sullivan, 29, of Salt Lake City, convicted of seven counts, including possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds.

Pleaded not guilty:

  • Brady Knowlton, 43, of Dammeron Valley, indicted on seven counts, including attempting to impede the Electoral College certification.
  • Odin Meacham, 29, of Myton, charged with six counts including, assaulting resisting or impeding police.
  • Gary Wilson, of Salt Lake City, indicted on seven counts, including attempting to impede the Electoral College certification.

Charges dismissed:

  • Nejourde Meacham, of Pleasant Valley, had been charged with counts related to unlawfully entering the Capitol. The counts were dismissed following his death on Aug. 28, 2023, at age 22.

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