The Pride Boy who went missing after being convicted of storming the US Capitol on January 6 allegedly faked an overdose to delay his sentence, according to a new filing.
Federal prosecutors are now seeking a harsher sentence for Christopher Worrell, 52, after he was accused of faking a medical emergency to avoid a sentence of up to 14 years he faced for spraying police officers with pepper spray during a gang break-in.
“[Worell] escaped surveillance before sentencing, sparking a manhunt. He appeared to have no intention of turning himself in,” the supplemental sentencing memo filed Tuesday said.
“Worrell was recaptured, however, when he attempted to secretly return to his residence. Worrell then faked a drug overdose prior to his arrest, and maintained the lie during a five-day hospital stay, wasting the time and money of both medical personnel and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, which provided deputies to watch Worrell 24/7 in a non-hospital location. safe and left to foot the bill for Worrell’s unnecessary medical treatment.”
Prosecutors asked the judge to consider “new aggravating facts” that have arisen since Worrell was convicted in May 2023 of seven felonies, including obstructing the official proceedings of Congress, civil disorder and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon.
The extremist group member, who has been under house arrest, cut off his GPS ankle monitor in a Walmart parking lot on Aug. 14 — just four days before he was set to learn his fate, the documents allege.
Christopher Worrell was convicted in May of spraying pepper spray on police officers during the storming of the US Capitol on January 6. DOJ
The flight sparked a six-week FBI manhunt that ended when he was caught sneaking back to his home in Naples, Florida.
Inside, officers found him “appearing unresponsive” with an open bottle of prescription opioid medication in his hand.
“They performed what they thought was a life-saving procedure and took Worrell to hospital. This was, the government later learned, all a ruse — Worrell pretended to have a medical emergency as a ‘delay tactic’ to stall the government’s investigation,” the filing said.
Worrell disappeared just four days before his sentencing date, where he faces up to 14 years in prison. Part of justice
Worrell allegedly admitted to a friend during his five-day hospital stay — which led to the local sheriff’s department tasked with overseeing him for more than $5,000 in overtime pay — that he had faked a “stupid delay tactic.”
When he was dragged back into custody, investigators found night vision goggles, a wallet with about $4,000 in cash and a bag full of new survival gear, indicating he was prepared to continue his evasion, the documents said.
“Worrell’s flight demonstrates his contempt for these judicial proceedings, his lack of remorse, and his willingness to strategically misrepresent his medical condition,” the filing said.
Worrell was found at his home “appearing unresponsive” with an open bottle of prescription opioid medication in his hand. DOJ
Prosecutors said the ruse had also called into question Worrell’s earlier claims of unsubstantiated medical complications, which led to his release before trial in the first place.
He was placed under house arrest in November 2021 after a judge upheld his civil rights complaint that Worrell’s medical treatment for a broken arm had been delayed, a decision that also saw two DC prison officials held in contempt of court.
Worrell was convicted a year and a half later of storming the Capitol wearing a tactical vest with fellow Donald Trump supporters as Congress recognized Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
Prosecutors asked a judge to increase Worrell’s sentence because of his lack of remorse.
He later bragged that he “deployed a whole can” of pepper spray and shouted insults at the officers, calling them “commies” and “scum.”
During the trial, Worrell was accused by prosecutors of lying on the stand when he claimed that he sprayed other mobsters – a lie that the judge called “absurd.”
Worrell’s attorney wrote in court papers that his client brought spray gel and a tactical vest to Washington for defensive purposes because of previous violence between the Proud Boys and counter-protesters. His attorney wrote that the chaotic scenes at the Capitol “could have contributed to misconceptions creating inaccuracies” in Worrell’s testimony at trial.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
