ATLANTA — Scott Hall, an Atlanta-area bail bondsman, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that he attempted to criminally interfere in the Georgia 2020 election.
Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties after negotiating a plea with prosecutors. Hall, alongside former President Donald Trump, was one of 19 people charged with crimes tied to the election.
Hall is the first to take a plea deal.
Hall will pay a $5,000 fine and serve five years of probation. He will also write a letter of apology to Georgia citizens and complete 200 hours of community service as part of the deal. Other special conditions prevent Hall from participating in polling or election administration activities. He can't have contact with witnesses, victims and any of his former codefendants.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on Friday's deal.
Hall initially faced seven felony counts. The charges were primarily tied to his alleged role in the copying of election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia.
The indictment alleges that Hall took part in the Jan. 7, 2021 breach of the Coffee County elections office. Three other people were charged for their alleged roles in the plot — former Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham, former Coffee County election supervisor Misty Hampton, and attorney Sidney Powell.
The indictment alleges that Hall flew from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport to the Douglas Municipal Airport in Coffee County on the morning of the breach.
Hall, Latham, Hampton, then-Coffee County election board member Eric Chaney, former board member Ed Voyles, and a team from Atlanta-based forensic data firm SullivanStrickler were all inside the election office on Jan. 7. The SullivanStrickler team spent seven hours inside the building, producing exact copies of the county's sensitive election equipment and software, according to documents and surveillance video reviewed by 11Alive.
Hall's alleged involvement following the 2020 election reaches beyond the small south Georgia county.
Hall allegedly spoke with then-Georgia GOP chair David Shafer and then-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark about alleged election fraud in late 2020 and early 2021. Hall also had lengthy phone calls with Robert Cheeley and Trevian Kutti on Jan. 5, 2021. Shafer, Clark, Cheeley, and Kutti were indicted in the election case.
Hall's plea comes as prosecutors prepare for the Oct. 23 trial of Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, attorneys who assisted the former president following the election.
In a separate court hearing Friday, special prosecutor Nathan Wade said deals had not been presented to the pair but added that offers could be made to Powell and Chesebro in the near future.
As part of his plea, Hall promised to testify truthfully if called and turn over evidence to Fulton County prosecutors in the 2020 election cases against his former codefendants.
"We'll sit down and put some things together, and we’ll reach out to defense counsel individually to extend an offer," Wade said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.