WACO – Former U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston will plead guilty Tuesday as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors who accused him of obstructing the investigation into the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, a newspaper reported.
Mr. Johnston plans to plead guilty to misprision of felony, which means someone knows of a crime committed by someone else but doesn't report it. In exchange, prosecutors with special counsel John Danforth's office will recommend a probated sentence, Mr. Johnston told the Waco Tribune-Herald in a report for Tuesday editions.
"I think it is significant that they are agreeing to dismiss the entire indictment against me, and I am agreeing that I should have informed them that I didn't turn over my notes, which I have already publicly stated," Mr. Johnston said.
Mr. Johnston was indicted by a grand jury in St. Louis on Nov. 8, just before Mr. Danforth released his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing.
Mr. Johnston pleaded not guilty to two counts of obstructing justice and three counts of lying to federal investigators and a grand jury. His trial was scheduled for April 2.
Mr. Johnston has said that Mr. Danforth improperly singled him out for prosecution.
"One reason I am agreeing to plead to this is that I am out of money, and I have to try to salvage some way to make a living because I am so far in debt from all of this," Mr. Johnston said. "This offense gave me that chance. Were I convicted on any one count in the indictment, the State Bar of Texas would have to look at suspension or disbarment. That does not apply to this offense, but I cannot speak for the State Bar as to what they might do."
If U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw accepts the plea agreement, Mr. Johnston said, he could be on probation for up to three years.
Mr. Johnston has admitted he withheld several pages of notes that dealt with the FBI's use of pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters on April 19, 1993, the final day of a 51-day standoff that ended with the death of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and about 80 followers.
But Mr. Johnston said in prepared a statement after the November indictment that he was being prosecuted because he was a "whistle-blower."
"My actions were foolish, regrettable and wrong, but they were not criminal," Mr. Johnston said then. "I can't confess to concealing the pyrotechnics when I was the government employee most responsible for disclosing them. And I can't take full blame when there is so much blame to be spread around."