Dear Friends and Concerned Citizens,
Our Plea for Your Help:
This letter is our attempt to shed light on the intolerable treatment of political prisoners being held without the opportunity for bail in the Washington DC. Federal Correctional Facility while they await trial regarding their alleged participation in the protest of January 6, 2021. These individuals have been incarcerated for up to twelve months. No trial dates have been scheduled for most of them. None have been convicted of any crimes related to the protest and all are being refused supervised home release even though many have never been in trouble with the law previously. In addition, it has recently been revealed of the intolerable living conditions these prisoners must endure while incarcerated in that facility. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (Rep. Georgia 14th district) during her November 6, 2021, interview with Greg Kelly on Newsmax TV, detailed the horrific conditions she observed firsthand during her visit to the facility the previous day. In addition to unsanitary living conditions, e.g., mold on cell walls and inoperable sanitary facilities, several individuals being refused necessary medical treatment for their current medical conditions. One individual she spoke with had a severely impacted hand which in her estimation required immediate attention. Other prisoners had multiple injuries, but they were not provided with medical care. After being assured that these prisoners would receive the medical care they required she met and spoke with a prisoner who is unable to consume most of the meals provided by the food service. This is the result of his being diagnosed with Celiac disease. (Celiac disease is a food allergy caused by consuming food products containing wheat) It seems that the facility officials for the most part are unwilling or unable to accommodate his dietary requirements. Should he consume any food containing wheat gluten he can become ill for several days. In order to survive this continuing ordeal, he is forced to purchase supplemental, gluten free, meals from the commissary store when available with funds donated by family and friends. It is this individual whose story is detailed below.Christopher (Chris) Quaglin... Age 37…American Patriot... devoted husband... primary provider to his wife and family. He has been married for eight years and is a first-time father to a newborn son. He now, with a heavy heart, finds it necessary to request your spiritual and financial support of his family resulting from his alleged participation in the January 6th. protest in Washington, DC. Chris was arrested by the FBI at his home in New Jersey on April 7, 2021. He was initially arraigned and released by the judge to home restriction with an allowance to work. However, the government’s attorneys successfully appealed the New Jersey judge’s ruling in the appellate courts in Washington DC. Chris was ultimately denied home detention and sent to the Federal detention center in Newark, NJ until mid-September. He was then transferred to Oklahoma and again to Washington DC where he was forced to subsist under “Deplorable” conditions along with forty other individuals accused of participating in the protest. In late November he along with two other persons were transferred to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where they remain except for Chris who was transferred recently to Alexandria, Virginia. None of the January 6th. detainees were initially scheduled to be transferred from the Washington detention center. It was only after Chris sent a written urgent appeal to the Warden of the facility outlining that his medical condition required the need for gluten free meals was the decision made to transfer him once again. It is our contention that Chris was transferred as a direct retaliatory response to his request. Throughout his detention period of thirteen months Chris has had to purchase much of his own food. It seems for some unknown reason, the current food services connected with detention centers throughout the country are not able to adequately accommodate individuals with Celiac disease, an auto immune food allergy caused by consuming wheat gluten contained in most processed foods. (Chris was diagnosed with this disease at 10 years old).
Please know that Chris a good person. He has neither been in serious trouble before nor arrested prior to this incident. He has always been an ardent supporter of the police and some months prior to his arrest led a local demonstration in support of the men and women in blue serving his hometown.
Chris has always been a staunch supporter of true American conservative values. He was never one to just accept the norm. Always striving to improve and to establish himself in a career path Chris had to confront and overcome many obstacles. After graduating high school, he decided to opt out of attending college and to focus instead on becoming an electrician. He enrolled in a government sponsored trade school in Virginia where he excelled in learning and developed basic electrical skills. After graduating with honors, he began his electrical career and steadily progressed to the level of Journeyman Electrician and Foreman. He is currently in the process of finalizing requirements to obtain his state electrical license. During his many years of apprenticeship training, he met and eventually married his wife, Moira, and they settled down to begin their new life together and to start a family in central New Jersey. As a result of their combined efforts, they were able to refinance their existing mortgage which enabled Chris to complete an expansion of their existing home to accommodate the birth of their first child in February, 2021. This achievement exhausted nearly all their savings, but they believed that together they could financially manage. As it turned out shortly after the birth of their son Chris was taken from his loved ones. Since his arrest and subsequent incarceration, he is no longer able to provide financially for his family. But worst of all, due to Covid-19 restrictions, he was not allowed to see his wife or son in person, until mid-September, just before his transfer to Washington, DC.
Not knowing what to do or how to proceed after his initial arrest, Chris reached out to friends and family to ask for both financial assistance and help with identifying local legal counsel. He subsequently engaged a New Jersey attorney who stated emphatically that he would be able to get Chris released to his family with an allowance for Chris to continue working. In addition, the attorney stated that he believed Chris would eventually be absolved of most, if not all, of the charges being leveled against him. However, to accomplish this, the attorney demanded pre-payment of $125,000 which was to cover his entire legal fee from Chris’ arraignment through final trial. Chris’ supporters, albeit extremely reluctant to comply with the attorney’s outlandish demand, paid the full amount in advance. During the process of arraignment thru the initial appeal of the DC court’s decision not to release Chris, it became abundantly clear to Chris and his supporters that his attorney had to be replaced since he failed to deliver on any of his promises. At this point and after receiving multiple requests from the family the attorney has refused to return any funds paid to him by to the family.
As you can imagine the above outcomes have devastated Chris and his family. Fortunately, Chris has been able to obtain new legal representation. Despite Chris’ family and friends having already paid legal fees and expenses to date of $205,000, the family must now cope with an ever-increasing financial burden and struggle. They somehow must try to fund the additional mounting attorney fees and personal expenses as Chris awaits the next steps. Chris’ case will not come to trial until October 3, 2022. In the meantime, he along with many other defendants remain incarcerated and forced to cope with deplorable living conditions with little hope of release. The truth is Chris is running out of options. He and his family have depleted their financial resources. This is the reason we are sending out this appeal to you. His wife and son desperately need any assistance you are willing to provide both spiritually and financially.
We thank you in advance for your prayers and donations. All donations and prayers will be forwarded to Chris's parents.
Sincerely,
Friends and Family of Christopher Quaglin
Chris has only six months until he comes up for trial. Over this period attorney fees will escalate dramatically. It is therefore critical for us to raise awareness of his story and his family’s plight with as many persons we can. Please feel free to share Chris’ story with your friends, family, neighbors and as many concerned people as you are able. It is our hope that we will be able to raise sufficient donations to cover escalating legal fees as well as helping his family to be able to remain in their home.
