Powell released on house arrest
A federal judge Tuesday said she was “appalled and disgusted” with a former Butler County woman facing charges that she smashed a Capitol window during the Jan. 6 riot.
However, the judge permitted the woman to be released on house arrest, pending trial.
Rachel Marie Powell, 40, of Sandy Lake, Mercer County, was arrested at the FBI office in New Castle on Thursday after she turned herself in.
A mother of eight, Powell faces charges of obstruction, depredation of government property, entering a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, entering a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.Citing the alleged attack, Jessica Smolar, of the United States Attorneys Office, requested a federal judge keep Powell in the Butler County Prison, where she is being held.But after a two-hour hearing on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Magisterial Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania Lisa Pupo Lenihan released Powell on house arrest after finding that pretrial supervision is enough to ensure the safety of the community.Powell's lawyer, Michael Engle, asked Lenihan for the release after noting that, among other things, Powell has never committed a crime before and to leave her in the Butler County Prison, which her lawyer said is infested with the coronavirus, is unfair.Tuesday's virtual hearing began with Smolar calling FBI Special Agent Carlos Fontanez to testify about his investigation into Powell's alleged crimes at the Capitol.Powell appeared via video.Smolar used the agent's testimony to argue that Powell is a flight risk and possibly dangerous to the community and should remain in jail.
Fontanez had collected a series of videos and images that allegedly depict Powell smashing a window into the Capitol and instructing people using a bullhorn.The video and image evidence were displayed at the hearing.Fontanez responded to the attack on the Capitol, and on Tuesday recalled the scene of destruction.“It was quite something,” Fontanez said. “There was smoke everywhere. I saw broken windows and doors. Blood everywhere. It was more like a crime scene than the U.S. Capitol.“I've never seen anything like it,” he said. “It was chaos. There was a lot of commotion and smoke.”Fontanez noted that the FBI released a “be-on-the-lookout” poster for Powell, whose identity was unknown to authorities at the time. The FBI learned of her identity on Feb. 1, after reading an article in The New Yorker about her.Fontanez interviewed Powell's ex-husband, who said that he spoke to her on Jan. 30 from a concealed phone number. Powell allegedly told him that she was going to be leaving for “some time to take care of a few things,” according to Fontanez.Five of Powell's eight children are minors, Fontanez said, adding that the children have been staying with Powell's former husband.
On Thursday, authorities executed a search warrant at Powell's Sandy Lake residence, but Powell wasn't there. Later that day she surrendered to authorities on the advice of her attorney.At the house and in Powell's car, authorities found bags containing necessary items for survival. In these bags they also found ammunition and ninja stars.Fontanez noted that they found destroyed cellphones at Powell's residence, but she had no phone in her possession when she turned herself in.In Smolar's closing arguments, she asked the judge to keep Powell incarcerated.“Rachel was a leader,” Smolar said. “She physically took a battering ram to the windows of the U.S. Capitol to breach it.”Smolar noted that this wasn't just a crime against property.“They did this with the intention of intimidating Congress,” she said. “She threatened the fabric of democracy by joining the occupation of the U.S. Capitol.”But Powell's lawyer, Engle, said “my client is a 40-year-old single mother responsible for home-schooling of five children. She has long-standing ties to her community.”He also said Powell doesn't have “the kind of money” needed to flee the country, and that she always has cooperated with authorities.Engle argued that the evidence presented by prosecutors doesn't show Powell engaging in any violence against another person.“This is a damage-to property-and-trespass case,” he said.Engle also claimed that the Butler County Prison is a “Petri dish,” where Powell is in danger of getting the coronavirus.Lenihan noted her disgust at the “invasion” of the Capitol, but said, “We are not here to punish you for your actions. That is for another judge on another day.”She concluded that Powell could be released on house arrest with electronic monitoring with additional conditions that she stay in Western Pennsylvania.Lenihan gave prosecutors until 5 p.m. Wednesday to appeal this decision.If an appeal of Tuesday's ruling is not granted, Powell would face a preliminary hearing to respond to the charges.
