Sentencing Comes Despite Pending Motions to Overturn Verdicts, Based on Insufficient Evidence and Trial “Designed to Evoke Fear, Political Bias”
FORT WORTH, TX – Nine Prairieland defendants who were convicted in March of numerous federal charges in one of the most closely watched legal cases against anti-ICE demonstrators will be sentenced over the next two weeks, on June 23 and July 1. Supporters will hold a press conference, featuring statements by defendants, family members, as well as community and faith leaders, outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth on June 23 at 3pm or when sentencing concludes.
Despite what many are calling a politicized case untethered from credible evidence and witness testimony, nine Prairieland defendants were convicted on March 13 of a variety of federal charges, including riot, material support for terrorists, possession and conspiracy to use explosives, and conspiracy to conceal documents. One defendant was found guilty of attempted murder, following deliberations that were interrupted by an unexplained loud disturbance from the jury room.
Prairieland trial defendants Autumn Hill, Zachary Evetts, Benjamin Hanil Song, Savanna Batten, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada are scheduled to be sentenced on June 23. Trial defendant Ines Soto, along with Joy “Rowan” Gibson and Rebecca Morgan, who took non-cooperating plea deals, and those defendants who took cooperating plea deals will be sentenced on July 1. The defendants face a range of sentences from 10 to 50 years, with Song facing life in prison.
What: Federal sentencing of Prairieland defendants followed by rally and press conference
When: Tuesday, June 23 at 9am
Where: Federal Courthouse, 501 West 10th Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Rally and press conference will be held across the street from the courthouse at Burnett Park at 3pm or when sentencing concludes.
Notably, the sentencing hearing has been scheduled before motions to overturn the convictions have been decided by the court. US District Judge Mark Pittman has yet to rule on motions for judgment of acquittal and new trials filed in March by each of the nine defendants. The motions detail how the government failed to provide the necessary evidence for a conviction and instead put on a trial that was “saturated with evidence designed to evoke fear, political bias, and guilt by association,” according to one of the motions.
Family members expressed their defiance in the face of the potential sentences. “There is no ‘appropriate’ sentence for a wholly fictitious crime,” said Lydia Kosza, the wife of Prairieland defendant Autumn Hill, who will be sentenced on Tuesday. “These draconian sentences bear no connection to any notion of due process.”
Less than a week before sentencing and without explanation, Judge Pittman ordered the reassignment of federal Prairieland trial defendants Hill, Evetts, Batten, Ines Soto, and Sanchez Estrada to Chief US District Judge Reed O’Connor “to conduct all further proceedings.” It appears Judge Pittman will sentence the remaining trial defendants Morris, Song, Rueda, and Elizabeth Soto on June 23, simultaneous to those being sentenced by Judge O’Connor, with the exception of Ines Soto, whose sentencing is scheduled for July 1.
Regardless of what this might mean for the outcome of sentencing or the pending post-conviction motions for acquittals and a new trial, supporters plan to stand defiantly as federal sentences are delivered. Families and loved ones of the defendants remain committed to working to bring the defendants home. “No matter what happens, I am not giving up,” said Diana Rueda, the sister of Prairieland defendant Maricela Rueda. “Mari and everyone else should be here with us. The state has no right to steal their freedom. None of us are going to stop until this injustice is corrected, and the corruption that took place here is exposed.”
After the federal sentencing, Prairieland defendants will still face State charges in Johnson County, where sitting Sheriff Adam King is set to face his own trial starting June 22 for witness tampering, perjury, and other crimes. The Johnson County District Attorney has aggressively pursued Prairieland cases, including against defendants with little connection to the July 4 noise demonstration, around which the case is centered. These defendants include Janette Goering and Lucy Fowlkes. Goering was released on a $275,000 bond last week after the Texas Court of Appeals ruled her original $5 million bond was unreasonable. Despite the Court of Appeals ruling from earlier this month, numerous Prairieland defendants remain incarcerated on multi-million dollar bonds.
The sentencing comes just a week after 15 anti-ICE organizers in Minnesota were indicted on conspiracy charges related to the popular mobilizations against ICE over the winter. Many observers have noted the similarities between this case and the Prairieland case. Dario Sanchez, another Prairieland defendant with State charges , expressed concern about the new federal case. “It’s clear to me that this case has become a template for silencing political activity” said Sanchez. “How you engage in politics doesn’t determine whether you’ll be targeted or not, now it’s whether or not you voice your dissent.”
The Prairieland cases, involving 22 people charged with both state and federal charges, stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. After the protest, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after arrival. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterwards, but authorities have never provided hospital records to justify these claims. Alvarado police arrested ten people that night, and a dozen more were arrested over the following several months.