United States v. Robert Doggart

SUTTON, Circuit Judge.

Rare is the defendant who insists that we find him guilty. Rarer still is the defendant who gets his way.

Robert Doggart is on his way to accomplishing both. After federal agents arrested Doggart for plotting to attack an Islamic community at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, he attempted to plead guilty to making a threat in interstate commerce, a crime carrying a sentence of no more than five years. But the district court found that he had not made a cognizable threat and rejected his plea under Criminal Rule 11. After that and after the government added some…