A Conway man accused of using a flagpole to beat a police officer who was facedown on the U.S. Capitol steps has a plea agreement hearing scheduled for Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Peter Francis Stager, 43, is one of eight defendants accused of attacking police officers who were stationed in an archway during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. 2021. The archway provided access to the interior of the Capitol building from the lower west terrace through a tunnel.
Four of the defendants in the case have entered guilty pleas. All four have pleaded guilty to one felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers under 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b) in exchange for prosecutors requesting that the remaining charges be dismissed at the time of sentencing.
Stager faces that same charge -- 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b) -- along with six other counts.
Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b) carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
But based on sentencing guidelines, the punishment could be considerably less severe.
Justin Jersey of Flint, Mich., was the first -- and so far the only -- one of Stager's co-defendants to be sentenced. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Jersey to 51 months in prison with credit for time served. He'll be on supervised release for three years after he gets out of prison. Contreras also ordered Jersey to pay $32,165.65 in restitution. The judge dismissed the remaining six counts against Jersey, as federal prosecutors had requested.
Contreras will also preside over Stager's plea hearing, according to court records.
Jersey's case was a little different from those of the other three defendants who have pleaded guilty. The other three faced a penalty enhancement -- the (b) part of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b) -- for using a dangerous weapon: a crutch, police baton and flagpole. Jersey faced a penalty enhancement for "inflicting bodily injury."
Jersey was "carrying a large, gnarled stick" that he raised in the air as he moved toward the archway, according to the "statement of offense" filed with his plea agreement. But Jersey gave the stick to another rioter before "he sprang at the line of officers," knocking one of them to the ground and making him more vulnerable to attack by other rioters, according to the filing.
Jack Wade Whitton of Locust Grove, Ga.; Mason Joel Courson of Tamarac, Fla.; and Logan James Barnhart of Holt, Mich., are Stager's co-defendants who have pleaded guilty but are awaiting sentencing.
According to court filings, Whitton used a crutch to beat a police officer, while Courson beat an officer with a baton. Barnhart "struck at" police with the base of a flagpole. Stager's 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) and (b) charge also includes a penalty enhancement for using a dangerous weapon -- a flagpole.
Based on sentencing guidelines, Whitton, Courson and Barnhart face sentences that range from 41 to 97 months in prison, or about 3.5 to eight years, according to court filings. Sentencing guidelines take into consideration bodily injury to the victim and the perpetrator's previous criminal history, among other things.
A search of Arkansas' online court records shows only one traffic citation for Stager -- for operating a vehicle with defective equipment in 2018.
Stager and Courson beat the same police officer, identified as B.M., after he was dragged from the archway onto the Capitol steps, according to court filings.
Stager told a source that he thought the officer was a member of Antifa, wrote FBI Special Agent Jason T. Coe in a statement of facts filed shortly after Stager's arrest.
"Clearly present on B.M.'s uniform, across his back, are the words 'METROPOLITAN POLICE,'" wrote Coe. "Also visible in the photo is Stager, holding a flagpole, with an American flag attached, with what appears to be a clear view of B.M. in uniform, lying on the stairs."
In one video, a man identified as Stager can be heard saying, "Everybody in there is a treasonous traitor. Death is the only remedy for what's in that building," referring to members of Congress in the U.S. Capitol, Coe wrote.
On Jan. 6, 2021, a violent mob stormed the Capitol, seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and stop Congress from counting the electoral votes for Joe Biden's win over then-President Donald Trump.
Stager has remained in the District of Columbia jail since shortly after his arrest in Conway on Jan. 14, 2021.
A ninth defendant in the case has died since being indicted.
More than 950 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement last month.
More than 284 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees, including about 99 people who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
About 140 police officers were assaulted on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department.
As of early January, 484 defendants had pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges in connection with the Capitol riot. That number included 119 who had pleaded guilty to felonies.
Four of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy.
As of early January, 40 Capitol riot defendants had been found guilty at contested trials, according to the news release. Another 10 individuals have been convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts.
"Sixteen of these 50 defendants were found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, a felony, including one who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison," according to the release.
Richard "Bigo" Barnett, 62, of Gravette, is the only other Arkansan charged with felonies in connection with the Capitol riot. A District of Columbia jury found Barnett guilty last month on all eight charges in federal court. He faces a maximum penalty of 47 years in prison. Barnett's sentencing is scheduled for May 3.