Deanna West pleads guilty in Colorado Springs cross burning hoax
A woman who was part of a group charged with setting a cross on fire in front of a defaced campaign sign for a candidate who became Colorado Springs’ first Black mayor pleaded guilty on Tuesday in what authorities say was a hoax.
Deanna West, one of three people indicted in the 2023 incident, pleaded guilty in Denver federal court to one count of being part of a conspiracy to set the fire and then spread false information about it in the run-up to the election of Mayor Yemi Mobolade.
In exchange, prosecutors said they would drop an additional charge related to setting the fire.
Prosecutors say that after staging the cross burning, a photo and video of it were sent to media and civic organizations making it seem like an attack on Mobolade.
According to the plea agreement, the conspiracy’s goal was to interfere in the campaign of Mobolade’s opponent and create the belief that Mobolade was being discouraged from running because of his race. West was dependent on one of the other three people charged, Derrick Bernard, for employment and housing and agreed to participate to curry favor with him, the document said.
