WASHINGTON – A U.S. District Court judge today sentenced four more of 10 the defendants who conspired to create a blockade at a Washington, D.C. reproductive health care clinic to prevent the clinic from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly today sentenced Herb Geraghty, 27, of Pittsburgh to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Joan Bell, 76, of Montague, NY, received 27 months incarceration and three years of supervised release. Jonathan Darnel, 42, of Arlington, Va., was sentenced to 34 months and three years of supervised release. Jean Marshall, 74, of Kingston, Mass., was sentenced to 24 months and three months of supervised release. All four were convicted by a jury of civil rights conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act violations.
Three defendants were sentenced yesterday, May 14. Lauren Handy, 30, of Alexandria, Virginia was sentenced to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release. John Hinshaw, 69, of Levittown, New York, received 21 months incarceration and three years of supervised release. William Goodman, 54, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 27 months and three years of supervised release. All three were convicted of civil rights conspiracy and FACE Act violations.
As the evidence at trial showed, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to create a blockade at the reproductive health care clinic to prevent the clinic from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services. As part of the conspiracy, Handy, Hinshaw, and Goodman, traveled to Washington, D.C. from various northeast and midwestern states, to meet with Handy and participate in a clinic blockade that was directed by Handy and was broadcast on Facebook.
The defendants forced their way into the clinic and set up a blockade using their bodies, furniture, chains, and ropes. Their activities were live-streamed on social media, and they also used physical obstructions to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division commend the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Marshals Service for their tireless efforts to bring these defendants to justice. The FACE Act makes it a federal crime to use physical force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone because that person was providing or obtaining reproductive health services.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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