Former Oath Keepers Lawyer in Henrico Court Accused of Practicing Law without License
Jonathon Moseley was at the Henrico Courthouse on April 23rd and April 27th to deal with his charges of practicing law without license. The charges stem from events that occurred last year when Zachary Alam was arrested for burglary of a Henrico home.
During a motion hearing, Henrico Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Dylan McAuley said that Moseley drafted two legal motions for Alam before his conviction in October. Moseley claims that he was just helping Alam find a lawyer to represent him.
On Moseley's April 23rd motion hearing, Moseley's lawyer withdrew from the case. Moseley said he wanted to run the show and represent himself on the charge of practice law without a license. Judge Rondelle Herman appointed Ben Shute to serve as standby counsel that will simply give Moseley legal advice and won't speak during the trial.
Moseley drove from his home in Florida to attend the hearing and the judge allowed Moseley another hearing on Monday with his standby counsel to make pre-trial motions. Moseley's motion to dismiss was denied after Moseley questioned how prosecutors learned his middle name.
Judge Herman told Moseley that she was not trying to insult his intelligence when she explained the legal definition of indictments and the process in Virginia.
Moseley lost his license to practice law in Virginia in 2022 after being admitted in 1997. From what began as a complaint for putting a deposit in a non-trust bank account evolved into nearly $7,000 in sanctions and 6 days of jail for contempt of court. Moseley filed a lawsuit against the judges that imposed penalties on him.
In his lawsuit against the judges, Moseley wrote, "The fact that Plaintiff Moseley spent his birthday in jail seems to be unable to penetrate the thick skull of these defendants in their imagined belief that if they merely commit enough vile, vicious terrorism, threat, and intimidation, somehow the Plaintiff will pay money he doesn't have."
A 3 judge panel found that Moseley violated multiple misconduct violations including failure safekeeping property, unauthorized practices of law, and filing a lawsuit that lacked merit. Moseley lost his license to practice law on April 1, 2022.
While Moseley was facing removal from the Virginia State Bar, he took on clients that were charged and eventually convicted of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. One of those clients was Zachary Alam, whom Moseley is accused of unlawful drafting motions on his behalf.
In January of 2022, Moseley appeared on CNN in an interview about his clients Stewart Rhodes and the Oathkeepers for their indictment for seditious conspiracy.
Moseley's trial will begin on November 18th and is expected to last two days. Moseley is not entirely certain whom he will be subpoena as his witness but suggested attorney Roger Roots previously worked with Moseley.
Moseley also suggest that Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor could be subpoenaed. Judge Herman did not think that would be possible to subpoena a prosecutor working on the case.
Outside the courtroom, Moseley's friend Merrie Turner suggested that Taylor initiated the misdemeanor charges because of her Congressional run. Taylor's office has not yet released any public announcements related to Moseley's ongoing criminal case.
