Failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Kelley strikes deal to plead guilty in Jan. 6 case

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley is scheduled to plead guilty to a federal crime stemming from the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol, his lawyer told The Detroit News on Thursday.

Kelley has an agreement to plead guilty July 27 to a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The government’s estimated guidelines call for a sentence of 0-6 months in prison.

The plea deal would resolve a criminal case against one of the more high-profile defendants in a broader prosecution of the 968 people nationwide charged with Jan. 6 crimes. That includes at least 23 people from Michigan.

“There has never been any allegation that he ever entered the Capitol and there was never any allegation that he engaged in violence or threat of violence that day,” his lawyer Gary Springstead of SBBL Law told The News. “He went there with the intention of protesting the election.”

The deal marks a stark reversal for Kelley, who called his arrest a "political witch hunt."

“Resolving the case with a minor misdemeanor like this is probably the most efficient, cost-effective way to resolve the case,” Springstead said. “And put this behind him to he can focus on his family and his successful career as a commercial real estate agent.”

Kelley, who supported former President Donald Trump, is charged with four misdemeanors. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors will drop three charges: disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence against a person or property in any restricted building or grounds; and destruction of government property.

“He thought he had a First Amendment right to go there and protest the election, but as it turns out, he didn’t realize that the people that were there protesting on the Capitol steps hadn’t pulled a permit and weren’t permitted to be there,” Springstead said.

“I don’t think it’s right and I don’t think it’s fair, but it’s one of those things that if push comes to shove, the government is going to present evidence about that restricted area,” the lawyer added.

The misdemeanor criminal case accuses the 41-year-old real estate broker from Allendale of climbing onto portions of the Capitol, encouraging, yelling, gesturing to participants and also removing a covering from a temporary structure outside the Capitol.

Kelley repeatedly declined under oath to identify himself in videos from the riot, according to a transcript of his interview with investigators for a U.S. House committee.

Kelley has said he was lawfully protesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. His arrest last summer suddenly improved his name recognition in a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor, but Kelley finished fourth in the GOP primary with 15% of the vote.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews