Plea deal reached on long-standing charges over Sherman Park unrest involving Vaun Mayes » Urban Milwaukee

Vaun Mayes. Photo taken on April 20, 2021 by Graham Kilmer.

Long-pending federal criminal case against community activist Vaun Mayes seems to be coming to an end.

On Wednesday, Mayes pleaded guilty to one of seven charges stemming from the 2016 unrest in Sherman Park that followed the fatal Milwaukee Police Department shooting. Sylvie Smith.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 22 before the federal judge Pamela Pepper. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 on the remaining charge alone, although the plea agreement says both sides will argue for time already served, without fines or supervised release . Pepper will make a final decision.

Mayes, who leads an organization called the Community Task Force, has been a staunch advocate for peace and violence prevention in the years since the Sherman Park incidents. He regularly uses Facebook’s live streaming feature to reach thousands of people, raising awareness of Milwaukee issues.

The live stream also ties into the only charge that will remain in the Sherman Park case. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to using a cellphone to encourage others to riot.

Mayes was a key figure in the 2020 civil rights marches in Milwaukee and, as a result, is one of several figures honored in a large mural painted at N. 14th and W. Vliet streets. He was arrested in June 2020 for participating in the largely unexplained house fire at 40th and Lloyd, a hot spot during a summer of protests, but was released the next day and never returned. been charged with a crime. Mayes, in videos from the day of the fire, could be seen trying to defuse the situation and led a cleanup effort the next day.

In the years that followed, he continued to participate in violence prevention programs and find emergency housing for individuals.

But amid its current activity, the issue of Sherman Park looms. He has been open about his belief that the accusations have prevented his efforts from receiving government funding.

Mayes, 37, was charged in 2018 with attempting to stage a firebombing, using Molotov cocktails, against the Milwaukee Police Department’s District Seven station at 3626 W. Fond du Lac Ave. and teaching others, including minors, how to make cocktail bombs. He has been out on bail since he was charged and the case has remained publicly quiet for years, although Mayes previously told Urban Milwaukee that his attorney was working to resolve the case. Many documents associated with the case are sealed.

He was also charged in 2019 with witness intimidation, for allegedly asking witnesses to tell a similar false story and for using a cellphone to encourage others to riot.

The plea agreement clears all charges except criminal use of a cell phone to incite others to riot.

Lawyer Robert LeBell defends Mayes. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Gregory J. Haanstadwho was promoted while the case was pending, and deputy attorney general Chris Ladwig are the lead prosecutors on the case.