(Trends Wide) — Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony obstruction of Electoral College proceedings on Jan. 6, and in a surprising decision, he plans to cooperate with the Justice Department and potentially testify against other alleged troublemakers.
The agreement with Keller suggests that prosecutors could try to use him as a star witness in future trials, capitalizing on his notoriety as a decorated athlete who won gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics.
Keller was arrested in January and charged with seven crimes. All other charges will be dropped as part of the plea deal. You pleaded guilty to a felony charge that could land you in jail, though you could reduce your sentence if you help prosecutors.
Until now, the only agitators who have reached cooperation agreements were members of radical groups who could testify against their colleagues.