Washington:

A co-defendant of Donald Trump pleaded guilty Friday in a case alleging a  criminal conspiracy to overturn the former US president’s 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia.

Scott Hall, 59, was indicted in August along with Trump and 17 others by a Fulton County grand jury.

Hall, a bail bondsman, is the first defendant charged in the sprawling racketeering case to plead guilty.

He originally faced seven felony charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state.

He pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to interfere with the performance of election duties at a live-streamed hearing on Friday before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.

Hall was sentenced to five years of probation, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

He also agreed to write a letter of apology to the citizens of Georgia and to testify at the upcoming trials of other co-defendants in the case.

Hall and several other co-defendants were charged with tampering with voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, following the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the other co-defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to charges of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, where Biden won by some 12,000 votes.

The twice-impeached former president also faces federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and is to go on trial in that case in Washington in March 2024.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a wide-ranging Georgia criminal indictment related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a court filing.

The plea means that Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, will not appear in person in Fulton County Court in Atlanta next week to face the charges.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has charged Trump with 13 felony counts, including racketeering, for pressuring state officials to reverse his 2020 election loss and allegedly setting up a fake slate of electors to undermine the congressional certification of Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory.

The latest charges mark Trump’s fourth indictment since launching his reelection campaign for president.

“As evidenced by my signature below, I do hereby waive formal arraignment and enter my plea of NOT GUILTY to the Indictment in this case,” Trump said in the court filing made in the Fulton County Superior Court on Thursday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)