Ronald Sandlin of Millington pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting and impeding police for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors say in a plea agreement they intend to seek a penalty range of 63 to 78 months at a Dec. 2 sentencing hearing. Sandlin, who was arrested three weeks after the attack, remains jailed. Court records filed in connection with the plea show that Sandlin conspired with two others to take the Capitol building by force. The trio suited up for the attack with guns, a knife, bear mace, a stun gun, protective gear and gas masks and captured their crimes on video. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Sandlin smoked marijuana inside the Capitol, stole a book from a Senate office and made plans to sell footage of the attack, Tennessee Lookout reports.

Leading medical organizations are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a string of recent online attacks against hospitals and doctors that provide care to transgender minors. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Children’s Hospital Association on Monday said the attacks have included allegations of child abuse as well as bomb threats and threats of personal violence, The Hill reports. The groups also are calling on social media companies to do more to prevent disinformation on their platforms and take “bolder action” when false information is shared.

A federal jury has found that Sullivan County teacher Jeremy McLaughlin was suspended for reasons other than his expletive-laced social media posts, rejecting McLaughlin’s claims he was targeted for the posts, Tennessee Lookout reports. McLaughlin was suspended for three days without pay in September 2020 after parents complained about posts made while off-duty. Before the trial, U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker ruled McLaughlin’s social media posts were protected speech under the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding the rights of a coach who prayed on the field after football games. That ruling put the burden on the school to prove McLaughlin was suspended for other reasons. The school argued it took the action because McLaughlin was encouraging people outside the school system to vote in what was supposed to be a survey of district teachers. The jury agreed.

More than two dozen people have died of overdoses behind bars in Tennessee this year with 12 happening at private prisons run by Brentwood-based CoreCivic. Lawsuits blame understaffing and easily available drugs, Nashville Public Radio reports. In one case, guards did not find the inmate’s body for hours, saying the lack of cell checks was because they were understaffed. Family members wonder if the overdose could have been reversed, had their loved one been found sooner. Last year, 49 people died of overdoses—nearly all of them from fentanyl—while incarcerated in Tennessee.

Ten attorneys from Tennessee were yesterday admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 37th annual TBA Academy. TBA President Tasha Blakney moved for admission of the members during a private ceremony at the court in Washington, D.C. Some in the group rounded out the day with a tour of the White House. Attorneys admitted before the high court were Terry Adkins, Brittany Bartkowiak, Kurt W. Bartlett, James Edwards, Tera Hambrick, Chris Holder, Charlotte Mattingly, Robin Moore, Marie Scott and Brandy Spurgin. See more pictures from the event.

Five current or former IRS employees have been charged with defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. According to court documents, the defendants submitted fraudulent loan applications to both programs that collectively sought more than $1 million and used the funds for cars, luxury goods and personal travel. The defendants each face wire fraud charges, with one defendant facing both wire fraud and money laundering charges. Read the release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District.  

Forty people became U.S. citizens yesterday during the Middle District of Tennessee’s first in-person naturalization ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessean reports. The ceremony was held at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage and included an address from Chief District Court Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. “We are Americans because our citizenship is grounded on a foundation of shared ideas brought from many countries, many races and many cultures,” Crenshaw told the crowd. He also emphasized responsibilities that come with citizenship, including voting and jury duty. There were 4,456 citizens naturalized in 2019 before COVID-19. That dropped to 932 in 2020 and 431 in 2021. So far this year, there have been 538, according to the Middle District of Tennessee.

An amended lawsuit claims Memphis police failed to arrest Cleotha Henderson for a 2021 rape even after a second witness implicated him in the crime, the Daily Memphian reports. Alicia Franklin, who sued the city last month for failing to properly investigate her case, claims the Memphis Police Department’s inaction played a role in the kidnapping and murder of Memphis jogger Eliza Fletcher. Henderson was charged in Fletcher’s case in September and days later charged with Franklin’s rape. The amended lawsuit claims MPD detectives questioned an unnamed woman described as Henderson’s girlfriend shortly after Franklin reported her rape to police and that the girlfriend gave evidence to the police that implicated Henderson in the crime. The suit states that, if the police had acted then, “the abduction and murder of Eliza Fletcher would not have occurred.”

Prison reform advocate Alex Friedmann has agreed to a settlement with the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) over its use of solitary confinement for pretrial detainees, the Associated Press reports. Friedmann sued TDOC last year for the restrictive conditions of the “hardened” cell at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution he was housed in for nearly two years before he’d been convicted of a crime. He was at the facility under a “safekeeper” order, which allows some pretrial inmates to be housed in a state prison instead of local jail. According to the settlement, TDOC agreed to a series of changes to safekeeper policies. Friedmann says he waived all monetary damages in favor of the policy changes. He was arrested in 2020 for hiding three handguns, ammunition, handcuff keys and hacksaw blades inside the walls of Nashville’s new jail during construction. Friedmann was convicted in July and is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has announced three new additions to his office, the Daily Memphian reports. Gerald Skahan will serve as special assistant for post-conviction litigation, Haden Lawyer will be an assistant district attorney and Nicole Harris is the office’s new senior adviser for communications and community engagement. “These additions to our team represent diversity, experience and above all, an abiding interest in delivering equal justice under the law for everyone in Shelby County,” Mulroy said. The DA’s office is seeking to fill additional attorney and non-attorney roles. Email info@scdag.com for more information.