Attorney Plea Agreements – Coerced Admissions Under Financial Duress (GA)

Attorneys Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Sidney Powell each pleaded guilty in October 2023 to reduced charges — with the RICO count dropped in every instance in exchange for probation and cooperation obligations. Ellis stated in open court that she had “failed to do my due diligence” and that “if I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.” Ellis had publicly stated Trump was “not funding any of us”; she raised over $217,000 in crowdfunding before the plea, an amount her attorney confirmed the actual legal fees “far exceeded,” in a case where per-defendant RICO defense costs were estimated at $250,000 to $1 million minimum. Chesebro and Powell both finalized deals the day their trials were scheduled to begin. Trump’s lead attorney characterized the pattern on the record: “This so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip for DA Willis.” All charges were dismissed in November 2025 following Willis’s disqualification — no court reached the merits.