A new criminal defendant with allegations stemming from alleged involvement in the Capitol attack of January 6, 2021, has been ordered to detention by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., after developments including the discovery by authorities of an allegedly loaded AR-15 firearm in his residence at arrest.
The now looming stint in pretrial detention could count towards a prison sentence imposed if there is a conviction.
Prosecutors characterize that gun as registered to a former girlfriend of the defendant, Edward Richmond Jr. of Louisiana, who was once convicted of a manslaughter allegation after he shot a civilian while serving in the U.S. military overseas. Richmond was subsequently forced out of service.
As relayed by CBS journalist Scott MacFarlane, Richmond’s team is not contesting the presence of the firearm in the residence where authorities apprehended the defendant — and the judge cited the weapon in putting him in detention. “Judge Boasberg says the decision on pretrial detention would be a close call…. Except for the AR-15,” MacFarlane wrote online. “He orders Richmond detained.”
The judge directed that Richmond turn himself over to U.S. Marshals by the following Monday. Richmond’s allegations in the underlying criminal case include a charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon, which comes with up to 20 years in prison if convicted, though precedent suggests Richmond wouldn’t actually get quite that long of a stint in prison.
He was apparently on a team that provided ostensible security to an individual who has gone unnamed in court filings but who spoke with authorities amid the preparation of Richmond’s criminal case, identifying the individual that the government ID’ed as Richmond as “Eddie” in an image of the group that was originally posted somewhere online. “CW-1 was shown a photo of the security team hired to travel with CW-1, which was posted by CW-1 on his/her social media account. In the photo, CW-1 identified a man wearing a black helmet, goggles, shoulder pads, an orange 2-way radio, and a patch on his chest of the Louisiana state flag, as “EDDIE,”” a court filing said earlier.
