(The Center Square) – Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge in federal court on Monday in exchange for a plea deal related to a protest last summer.
Stuckart is now the second of nine people indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice last July to plead guilty in exchange for potentially reducing it to a misdemeanor after 18 months. Like Mikki Hatfield did last Wednesday, Stuckart pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer on Monday.
The case stems from a June 11 protest at a U.S. Department of Homeland Security facility in Spokane, where Stuckart called on hundreds of residents to prevent DHS from transporting migrants to Tacoma.
Local law enforcement arrested Stuckart and dozens of others for failure to disperse, with some facing assault and unlawful imprisonment charges as well. However, Spokane has since dismissed all of those misdemeanor charges, citing ongoing investigations, so only the federal cases are proceeding for now.
“If I have learned one thing over the last six months, it is that you can do the right thing and still have negative consequences,” according to a statement that Stuckart read after pleading guilty on Monday.
The former city official says this all started after he tried to stop DHS from transporting two migrants he was helping navigate the system to another facility in Tacoma. According to federal court records, the government canceled both migrants’ work authorizations in May and then detained them in June.
Stuckart declined an interview but told The Center Square in a text that his plea deal is essentially the same as the one Hatfield accepted. If Stuckart stays out of trouble for the next 18 months and abides by the agreement, he can swap his plea for a misdemeanor and avoid prison time if the judge agrees.
Sticking with the felony rather than withdrawing the plea for a misdemeanor could result in six years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. According to his deal, Stuckart and the other defendants must pay roughly $10,8000 in restitution, in addition to reporting contacts with police and other conditions.
Stuckart and Hatfield will return to court in June 2027, but three other defendants, Collin Muncey, Erin Lang and Bobbi Lee Silva, have change-of-plea hearings on Tuesday to consider similar plea deals. Jac Archer, Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II, Thalia Marie Ramirez and Justice Forral will go to trial in May.
“I decided to try and stop them from taking my friends,” according to Stuckart’s statement, “It was my hope that the Government would do the right thing and release them from custody. I understood what I was up against, but I felt it was necessary to take a stand. I accept full responsibility for my conduct.”
