A Washington jury has convicted three protesters of federal conspiracy charges for trying to prevent federal officers from transporting two detained illegal immigrants from Spokane to Tacoma last June.
They face up to six years in prison and $250,000 in fines, according to a news report.
Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II were convicted as a result of their actions near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility near downtown Spokane.
Supporters and others have dubbed them “the Spokane 3.”
The trio were among hundreds who responded to a Facebook post by former City Council President Ben Stuckart last summer that urged people to join him in blocking the immigration transfer bus, according to National Public Radio’s (NPR) KUOW.
Stuckart was also the sponsor for one of the two detained immigrants who were in the United States seeking asylum, the outlet reported.
A total of nine protesters, including Stuckart, were arrested on conspiracy charges. Stuckart and five others took guilty pleas in exchange for reduced sentences.
According to the NPR outlet:
After a jury handed down the verdict Thursday, Washington State Representative Natasha Hill, (D-Spokane) thanked people who supported the defendants through the nearly two-week trial — but called out Stuckart for not showing up.
“You started this and you couldn’t even show up to finish it,” she said. “So I call on you, and I call on others to do what you said you were going to do, and stand up for your community because the fight is not over with this conviction.”
However, Stuckart posted on Facebook that he was told that if he attended the trial it could violate his parole.
“I feel awful about the guilty verdict. I feel awful for Jac, Bajun and Justice and their families. I support those that took plea deals, and I support those that went to trial,” Stuckart wrote.
Bajun Mavalwalla, Sr., the father of one of the protesters and a congressional candidate, told the outlet that U.S. attorneys wanted to make an example of his son and called the prosecution “political and vindictive.”
Defense attorneys said they expect to appeal.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.