The man known as QAnon Shaman, who pleaded guilty to breaching the U.S. Capitol, has been released from prison early after Fox News aired footage of him being escorted by police officers inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jacob Chansley, 35, was moved to a halfway house in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 28, a Bureau of Prison spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. He had been serving a 41-month sentence, handed down in November 2021, in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.
The release comes after Fox News’ Tucker Carlson broadcast never-before-seen footage that showed U.S. Capitol Police officers walking around inside the Capitol with Chansley.
Chansley’s current and former lawyers are offering different views as to whether the footage played a role in Chansley’s early release.
“Jake is out on schedule. I told him 16 months ago in our first conversation it would be Feb. or Mar. 2023,” William Shipley, Chansley’s current lawyer, wrote on social media on March 30.
While Chansley was expecting to serve nearly his full sentence in prison, Shipley noted that federal inmates can get early release for good behavior and participation in various programs.
“I didn’t do anything extraordinary—this was always the schedule, I just understood it and could explain it to him,” Shipley said.
Albert Watkins, Chansley’s former lawyer, said he could not comment on why the early release happened.
“After serving eleven months in solitary prior to his sentence being imposed, and only 16 months of his sentence thereafter, it is appropriate this gentle and intelligent young man be permitted to move forward with the next stage of what undoubtedly will be a law abiding and enriching life,” Watkins said in a statement to news outlets. “I applaud the decision of the U.S. Bureau of Prison in this regard.”
The bureau said it could not discuss a specific inmate’s release, but that inmates can earn time for good conduct.
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