The attorney for Jacob Chansley, the man known as the "QAnon Shaman," tells Newsmax he is hopeful a plea deal can be reached that would allow his client to escape further jail time for participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
''I’d like to see him have no more jail time,'' attorney Al Watkins said in a Newsmax interview Friday. ''But we’re not there yet. I’m hoping we can have something next week.''
Reuters reported that Watkins said officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons have diagnosed Chansley with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.
And Watkins told Newsmax: ''When you take somebody with mental health issues and put them in solitary conferment, you heighten their vulnerabilities. And that’s what has happened to Jacob.''
According to the Reuters report, Watkins said that Bureau of Prisons findings, which have not been made public, suggest Chansley's mental condition deteriorated due to the stress of being held in solitary confinement at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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