Donohoe may be released in months in Capitol riot case
Dec. 15—A Kernersville man who helped the investigation and prosecution of extremist Proud Boys leaders involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol could be released in as little as two months if a federal judge goes toward the low end of the sentencing recommendations of not only the man's lawyers but also prosecutors.
Charles "Charley" Donohoe, 35, has been behind bars since his arrest March 17, 2021. At his sentencing hearing this coming Tuesday, he will have been in jail for 33 months and three days, which will count toward his sentence.
Federal sentencing guidelines suggest a sentence of 80 to 87 months, but defense attorneys Lisa Costner and Ira Knight argue in a new filing that the sentence should be 36 months.
"Mr. Donohoe fully accepts responsibility for his acts and decisions, and he is committed to never repeating them. He wholly acknowledges his responsibility for the role he played in the events of January 6, and he regrets his actions and words," they wrote. "He has not regretted breaking ties with the Proud Boy organization. It is his desire to move forward in his life in a positive manner and focus on his family, especially his young son."
Notably, a separate filing by federal prosecutors recommends a sentencing range from as little as 35 months to a maximum of 43 months, which would still let Donohoe out of prison well before Thanksgiving 2024.
Donohoe pleaded guilty April 8, 2022, to reduced charges and agreed to help prosecutors in the case against higher-level Proud Boys leaders. After that, those leaders were charged with seditious conspiracy.
In their filing, prosecutors repeat much of what they have said previously about Donohoe's activities in the Proud Boys, particularly on Jan. 6, depicting him as a key lieutenant who had an active leadership role and appeared on Jan. 6 to enjoy the group's actions. They cite numerous social media posts by Donohoe celebrating what he and others did.
Costner and Knight paint a nearly polar opposite picture.
Although national Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio asked Donohoe in December 2020 to join a new leadership group called the Ministry of Self Defense that would plan and execute national rallies, starting with Jan. 6, Costner and Knight argue that Donohoe held a low-level position.
"He had no decision-making authority. His role was to carry out commands of those above him as a kind of secretary. Mr. Donohoe was not included in many of the leadership meetings," they wrote.
When at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Donohoe deferred to other Proud Boys leaders and followed them, they wrote. After the crowd he was in surged forward and up the steps of the Capitol, Donohoe "decided that he did not want to be physically involved any longer" and made his way back to his hotel, where he "began drinking heavily" and posted provocative messages on social media.
Since his arrest, the lawyers wrote, Donohoe "has focused on self-improvement, both spiritually and physically," reading about 1,000 books and completing more than 500 online educational courses.
"Mr. Donohoe's commitment to broadening his mind has become something of a legend in the Orange County Jail," they wrote in a footnote in the filing.
The filing refers in a number of places to a psychological profile of Donohoe that it says details his "psychological trauma due to verbal, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect" during his childhood that was exacerbated by post-traumatic stress disorder from his Marine Corps service in Afghanistan in 2007, "the worst year for US killed in action in Iraq."
Donohoe has struggled his entire adult life with alcohol, the filing said, but since arrest he has "not had any alcohol, and ... has had time to reflect on the degree of violence he has been exposed to in his life. He stated that he has turned to the Bible and that he now just wants 'peace,' in his life."
Included with the filing are 35 letters — ranging from immediate relatives to his third-grade teacher — attesting to Donohoe's lifelong positive characteristics.
The names on all of the letters are blacked out, but one clearly written by his twin brother, Liam, calls Donohoe "a one-of-a-kind human being with a servant's heart and an intense drive to help others in need."
One person who marched in 2020 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement said Donohoe disagreed on politics but always was respectful and honorable. That person also described a time when Donohoe came to the defense of a stranger, a Black transgender woman who was being assaulted by several people. After Donohoe's intervention, the attackers turned on him and beat him unconscious, which the letter writer said showed the extent to which Donohoe would go to protect the vulnerable.
"He has always had no regard for his own safety when it came to being the protective loving human being he is," the letter said.
A letter from a man who said he was a hospital president and retired Air Force captain said, "I so believe in this young man that my wife and I will gladly provide housing, assistance and any other support the court sees fit."
