A 20-year Marine veteran and former marksmanship instructor from Florida became the second defendant in the largest Jan. 6 Oath Keepers conspiracy case to plead guilty and agree to cooperate fully with prosecutors in hopes of reducing his prison term.
Jason Dolan, 45, of Wellington, Florida pleaded guilty yesterday to crimes related to the attempted coup d’état at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
According to court documents, Dolan planned his activities on Jan. 6 in advanced coordination with individuals and affiliates of the Oath Keepers, a large but loosely organized group of anti-government extremists, some of whom have ties to militias.
Dolan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Dolan admitted to communicating with co-conspirators in advance of Jan. 6 and discussing the need to bring firearms. According to his plea, Dolan drove with others from Florida to D.C. on Jan. 4 and 5. He brought with him an M4 rifle and dropped it off with at least one of the co-conspirators at a hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
On the morning of Jan. 6, Dolan met up with some of the co-conspirators at an event near the White House. He admitted to walking toward the U.S. Capitol in the early afternoon and entering restricted grounds around 1:52 p.m.
Around 2:02 p.m., Dolan joined the growing crowd on the central east steps of the U.S. Capitol. He admitted to making physical contact with one of the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers who were trying to keep the crowd at bay.
Around 2:35 p.m., Dolan stood at the top of the steps on the east side of the Capitol and joined some co-conspirators who had walked up in a “stack” formation, with each person keeping a hand on the shoulder of the person in front.
Around 2:40 p.m., Dolan was present on the plaza outside the east Rotunda doors where some co-conspirators and other individuals pushed against the USCP officers defending the building, eventually forcing the doors open. The doors were significantly damaged, and Dolan unlawfully entered the building.
According to his plea, at the time Dolan entered the building, he believed that he and the co-conspirators were trying to obstruct, influence and impede an official proceeding by stopping or delaying the certification of the electoral college vote.
In the weeks after Jan. 6, Dolan deleted certain data from his cell phone, including photographs and encrypted communications with at least some of the co-conspirators.
Dolan, a former security guard at the Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach, was the second of 18 alleged associates of the extremist anti-government group charged in a single indictment in the assault on the U.S. Capitol to plead guilty, following Graydon Young, 55, of Englewood, Fla.
Prosecutors alleged the Oath Keepers group came to Washington at the urging of founder Stewart Rhodes, usually identified as “Person One” by the government in court documents.
A Yale Law School graduate, Rhodes in 2009 founded the belligerent and jingoistic Oath Keepers group, which claims more than 30,000 law enforcement officers, soldiers and military veterans as members who vow to provide vigilante justice against perceived, unrealized threats from the government that are fringe right-wing conspiracy theories.
In court filings, prosecutors have asserted that Rhodes began discussing plans to keep President Donald Trump in the White House by force as early as Nov. 9 and exchanged dozens of encrypted messages, phone calls and other communications with members of the “stack” group before and during the riot.
Rhodes, 56, has not yet been charged but he has accused prosecutors of trying to manufacture a nonexistent conspiracy.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Miami Field Office in close coordination with the FBI’s Washington Field Office and its partners.
In the eight months since Jan. 6, more than 600 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including at least 185 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
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