“Pezzola indicated his desire to start negotiations for the disposition and acceptance of responsibility for his actions,” wrote Jonathan Zucker.
Hundreds of people have been charged as the FBI scans the country for those seen on the Capitol that day, including a large and growing number of so-called Proud Boys.
The group members were described by prosecutors as particularly well organized and coordinated, carrying headphones and dressed in military-style clothing.
Pezzola was also introduced repeatedly during Trump’s impeachment trial last week: Democrats suing the case mentioned his name 12 times as an example of the worst criminals who violated the Capitol that day.
They also noted that in previous court cases he attributed his actions to the ex-president’s call to overturn the 2020 election results.
“Pezzola came to the Capitol on January 6 with deadly intentions,” said Del. Stacey Plaskett (DV.I.), one of the House’s nine impeachment managers. “He confiscated a Capitol Police shield, used it to break a glass window, entered the Capitol and paved the way for dozens of insurrectionists.”
Pezzola’s lawyer now says he never had any intention of committing violence against others, has no criminal record and was probably asleep during a car ride when other Proud Boys discussed plans to return to Capitol to commit additional violence on Inauguration Day .
“Since his arrest, having time to reflect and see how things turned out, he now realizes that he has been deceived by these wrong beliefs,” wrote Zucker.
Zucker also said that he and his client have come to believe that another member of the Proud Boys – one of them much more involved in the group and accused of spraying the police with pepper spray on January 6 – is working with authorities to avoid a charge.
“While the defense cannot be certain, it is believed that the ‘cooperative witness’ who made these claims is actually someone who was a much more active participant in the ‘Proud Boys’ than Pezzola,” wrote Zucker.
Pezzola, through his lawyer, is now vowing to waive any participation in the Proud Boys or any similar interest group.
“He recognizes that at some point he will have to suffer some punishment for his actions, despite the fact that they were carried out with honorable but mistaken intentions,” wrote Zucker.