A Searcy man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors.
In a negotiated plea agreement last week, Daniel Hatcher and two co-defendants, both from Texas, pleaded guilty to violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds and to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors have agreed to drop two other charges, also misdemeanors.
Hatcher, 67, and co-defendants Nathan Mackie and Brandon Mackie remain free on their own recognizance. Sentencing is set for Nov. 19 by video before U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes in Washington, D.C. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison, a fine of up to $5,000 and probation of up to five years.
The judge is not bound by the agreement.
Hatcher, who wasn’t arrested until February, and the Mackies, described as his “hunting buddies,” flew to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, and the next day attended a Donald Trump rally that preceded the riots, according to a previously filed court document.
Hatcher, a wealth consultant, told an investigator that he and the Mackies walked to the Capitol after the rally. “Footage that I reviewed indicates … that Hatcher attempted to climb a wall leading to the Northwest Terrace of the building,” the investigator wrote in the document.
“Hatcher told the FBI that he climbed to the top of the wall, but then climbed back down the wall and decided to use the stairs,” the document says — an account confirmed by video footage the investigator reviewed. Other video footage shows that Hatcher and the Mackies entered the building through a broken window and remained in the area for about two minutes before leaving through a door.