Court records reveal Jan. 6 defendant from Lakeland has close ties to Pollock family
Court records offer new details about Thomas Paul Osborne, a Lakeland man arrested Feb. 22 on charges related to the U.S. Capitol attack.
A magistrate judge denied Osborne’s motion for pretrial release. He is charged with civil disorder, a felony, and with misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds.
An appeal of the judge’s order filed Friday reveals that Osborne is closely connected to Jonathan and Olivia Pollock, former Lakeland-area residents who were indicted in 2021 and became fugitives before their capture in Lake County on Jan. 6, the third anniversary of the Capitol riot.
Samuel Landes and Sylvia Irvin, assistant federal defenders in Tampa, argued that prosecutors had engaged in “guilt by association” in opposing his release.
A prosecutor argued at the magistrate hearing in federal court in Tampa that Osborne presented a flight risk, in arguing for his pre-trial detention. The prosecution stated that Osborne traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally in a group that included members of the Pollock family.
The government asserted that Osborne worked part time in a North Lakeland gun shop owned by Gabriel Pollock, the brother of Jonathan and Olivia, and that he participated in a prayer group with the family. In a detail not previously revealed, the appeal motion says that prosecutors claim to have evidence that Jonathan and Olivia’s parents helped them elude capture during their time as fugitives.
In denying Osborne’s original motion for release, the judge wrote that Olivia and Jonathan Pollock’s parents “act as a surrogate family for Mr. Osborne.”
Prosecutors also noted that Osborne allowed another Jan. 6 defendant, Christopher Worrell, to stay at his Lakeland home in December 2023. Worrell was found guilty after a bench trial, and before his sentencing hearing, he cut his GPS monitor and was a fugitive for about six weeks, the motion says.
Former fugitive Jonathan Pollock pleads not guilty at arraignment on Jan. 6 charges
Worrell is now serving a 10-year sentence.
A government lawyer argued that Osborne “helped Mr. Worrell evade law enforcement detection” by allowing him to lodge at his house. The motion says that prosecutors offered no evidence that Osborne knew Worrell had disabled his GPS monitor and was actively evading law enforcement.
The defense motion says that Osborne became a subject of investigation in 2021 and did not flee but instead turned himself in to FBI agents and agreed to interviews.
The motion lists three other reasons prosecutors gave in opposing Osborne’s release before trial: the weight of evidence, his having the means to flee, and his possession of multiple firearms. A prosecutor stated that video evidence shows Osborne physically engaged with a police officer at the Capitol.
The government also said that Osborne receives money from a trust fund and that agents found survival kits and “go bags” in his home. A prosecutor said agents found an “astonishing” number of loaded guns in Osborne’s home, listing that as a basis to detain him. The defense motion said that Osborne is not a felon and has the right to own the guns but would surrender them if granted pre-trial release.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Court records: Newest Jan. 6 defendant has close ties to Pollocks
