Sep 1, 2021 4 min read

The attorney representing a Fayette County man charged in the attack on the U.S. Capitol purportedly is hospitalized with COVID-19 and was recently placed on a ventilator, which is delaying the case and more than a dozen others from proceeding, according to federal court documents.

Federal prosecutors filed a brief Monday that Los Angeles-based lawyer John Pierce is “unresponsive” after apparently falling ill with COVID-19 recently and has been unable to appear for court hearings for some of the 17 defendants he’s representing who are charged in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

One of those defendants is Peter Schwartz, 47, of Uniontown, who is accused of using pepper spray on multiple police officers who were protecting members of Congress from a riotous mob trying to thwart the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

During Pierce’s absence over the past week, prosecutors said an associate at his law firm, Ryan Marshall, was representing the clients in the case despite not being a licensed attorney. The court filings note that Marshall is unable to obtain his license because he’s still facing felony charges in Fayette County after being indicted last August by a grand jury investigating government corruption while he was serving as a law clerk in the courthouse. Marshall, 31, of Uniontown, is awaiting trial in two separate cases brought forward by the grand jury.

The U.S. Department of Justice has had no contact with Schwartz’s attorney either by phone or email since Aug. 23 when Pierce last appeared for a hearing involving a separate defendant in the Capitol riot case, according to court documents. On Aug. 25, Marshall appeared on Pierce’s behalf for a hearing and told the court he was “hospitalized with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and non-responsive.”

Pierce has been a frequent critic of the COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates with various comments on his Twitter page, but he has not posted on social media since Aug. 20.

There have been varying explanations for Pierce’s absence. Marshall originally said Pierce had been hospitalized after an accident, according to court documents. Marshall later spoke during Thursday’s status hearing for Schwartz that he had not talked directly with Pierce, but a friend had told him he was “sick with COVID-19” while another said he had not been infected with the disease. A phone number listed for Pierce’s law offices in Los Angeles said it has been disconnected and a call to his cellphone listed in court documents goes straight to voicemail.

Regardless of the reason for Pierce’s absence, federal prosecutors said they are unable to proceed with numerous cases since they cannot communicate with Pierce, and Marshall is unqualified to represent his clients. It was not clear whether Marshall will face repercussions for representing clients in federal court proceedings while not being a licensed lawyer.

“The United States thus finds itself in a position where this defendant and 16 other defendants charged in connection with the Capitol Riot appear to be effectively without counsel,” prosecutors wrote in their brief. “Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Pierce may be hospitalized and unable to communicate, and it is unclear when Mr. Pierce will recover.”

Schwartz’s previous attorneys, Michael Lawlor and Nicholas Madiou, withdrew from the case July 28, two days after Pierce filed paperwork in federal court indicating he would represent Schwartz.

“From the government’s perspective, given Mr. Pierce’s reported illness and the fact that Mr. Marshall is not a licensed attorney, this case is effectively at a standstill,” prosecutors said.

That means Schwartz will remain jailed without bond in Washington, D.C., while waiting for his case to proceed.

Schwartz, who is originally from Kentucky, was living and working in Uniontown when investigators said he and his wife, Shelley, traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in a march in support of former president Donald Trump. Schwartz has been jailed since his arrest on Feb. 4 at his Cleveland Avenue apartment in Uniontown, although his wife has not been charged in connection with the riot at the Capitol.