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Prosecution argues against easing release conditions of Riley Williams, woman accused of participating in Jan. 6 insurrection

In a counter-motion filed on Friday, U.S. Attorneys Maria Fedor and Joseph Huynh say Riley Williams has repeatedly violated her pretrial release conditions.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from Jan. 21, 2021.

Prosecutors have filed a motion to ask judges to not end the house arrest and electronic location monitoring of the woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Riley Williams, who pleaded not guilty to all eight charges filed against her in relation to her alleged role in the riot, has been in home detention since Jan. 21, according to court records. She is living with her mother while awaiting trial on eight charges filed against her by a federal grand jury in October 2021.

On May 27, 2022, Williams filed a petition requesting amendments to the terms of her confinement. 

In the petition, she asked the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to remove her home detention completely, including the ankle locations monitoring device she's been ordered to wear.

In the request, Williams' attorney states the conditions are "unduly burdensome and overly restrictive."

U.S. Attorneys Maria Y. Fedor and Joseph Hong Huynh oppose the request.

On Friday, prosecutors filed a motion to have Williams' request to amend the conditions of her release denied citing the Bail Reform Act and the lack of new evidence to warrant a hearing to amend the conditions of her release.

"...if the judicial officer finds that information exists that was not known to the movant at the time of the hearing and that has a material bearing on the issue whether there are conditions of release that will reasonably assure the appearance of such person as required and the safety of any other person and the community."

In addition, the attorneys argue that Williams has violated the pretrial release conditions she agreed to at the Jan. 21 detention hearing. In the motion filed on June 10, the attorneys say Williams violated her internet and electronic device restrictions, lied to pretrial services, failed to adhere to her schedule, failed to report to her probation supervisor on time, and convinced the third-party custodian (her mother) to lie on her behalf.

Attornies Fedor and Huynh say Williams' "disregard for the parameters set by pretrial services, highlights the need for the terms of her release conditions to remain unmodified."

They also highlighted Williams' behavior following the Jan. 6 riot. Willams fled her home, deleted social media accounts, replaced her old cell phone, and had others delete any evidence of communication with her.

According to the motion, former and current probation pretrial services officers also oppose any change to Williams' release conditions.

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