For one of the biggest moments of his life, Eric Bochene wore a faded white t-shirt and sat in an empty, green-walled conference room, straining to hear the volume from the computer. He grimaced as the virtual conference technology glitched. And he frequently voiced his frustration with his situation.
Bochene pleaded guilty in late August to a federal criminal charge for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack. But he didn’t stand in a courtroom. His lawyer wasn’t standing next to Bochene. Instead the attorney was on a separate virtual conference connection. And Bochene wasn’t permitted to choose his own outfit.
Though he was pleading guilty to only a misdemeanor charge, Bochene was required to appear remotely for his hearing from a holding room in the Broome County jail in Binghamton, NY. He wore his jail outfit, sitting beneath fluorescent lights, because Bochene isn’t a typical Jan. 6 defendant.
Bochene is one of a growing number of U.S. Capitol riot defendants who absconded and became fugitives after their arrests or initial court appearances.
The prosecution related to the Jan. 6, 2021 siege is the largest in American history, with approximately 1,100 criminal defendants from nearly every state. Though more than 600 of those defendants have pleaded guilty and dozens more have gone to trial, at least six became – or were — fugitives over the course of this summer. Some are still wanted by the FBI. Eric Bochene was one of them
… Some others of us seem to have no understanding of the manpower at the fingertips of government. It’s a free country. Delude away. I remember when 9/11 happened. It took 3 days to get enough (about 2500) sailors on my aircraft carrier so we could break all kinds of records getting to the Gulf, and blowing up all manner of things. 3 days, from vacation to under way. Introduce some discomfort, and a little accountability and watch the mass of society scream about traitors. If you don’t mind being led to slaughter, then hooray for you. If you had any foundational knowledge to begin with you would understand that this is, indeed, a very necessary part of the growing pains of our country. Some of us want to be led, not caring to which type of slaughter. Others prefer to be left to their own lives until it’s time to fight for them. It’s perspective I suppose. It can come from understanding, or the lack of.