WNC man pleads guilty to January 6 insurrection role; yelled 'Fresh patriots to the front'

More than a year after helping storm the Capitol, a Haywood County man has pleaded guilty to his role in trying to stop Congress' certification of the 2020 election.

Lewis Easton Cantwell, of Haywood County, admitted in a plea deal filed March 24 in U.S. District Court in Washington to thwarting police attempts to hold off rioters from the legislative building on Jan. 6, 2021. He pleaded guilty to one felony charge of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during the commission of civil disorder.

The insurrection against the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory left five people dead and many others injured. The Capitol required $1.4 million in repairs, according to prosecutors most recent filings in the case.

Cantwell had been indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 5, 2021, on six counts: aiding and abetting civil disorder; obstructing an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted government area; disruptive and disorderly conduct in a restricted government area; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol.

Now his sentencing is set for Sept. 22 before U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. A 36-year-old military veteran and former co-owner of the now closed Jackson County Sip’ Sum tea house, Cantwell is facing a recommended sentence of zero to six months in prison and $2,000 in restitution payments, according to the plea deal. The filing noted he had "zero criminal history points." The judge is not bound by those recommendations.

Cantwell was at one point represented by high-profile criminal defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo whose clients included former Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. His current attorney, Nicolai Cocis of Murrieta, California, did not return April 1 messages seeking comment.

The punishment is less than many others involved in events surrounding the insurrection. Fellow WNC resident Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. was sentenced to 28 months after arriving in Washington with guns and large amounts of ammunition and threatening to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head.