Attorney argues sentencing doesn’t fit crime for New York pro-lifer’s FACE Act violation

By Bettina di Fiore - Posted at LiveAction:

Published August 14, 2024

On July 24, pro-life advocate Bevelyn Williams was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for allegedly violating the FACE Act during a two-day protest outside of a New York City Planned Parenthood facility in June of 2020.

This is the second-longest sentence in a series of recent FACE Act-related convictions. Lauren Handy, who was convicted in a FACE Act trial in Washington, D.C., in August of last year, is the only defendant to have been given a longer sentence – in her case, 57 months.

Williams and her co-defendant, Edmee Chavannes, were originally indicted on December 16, 2022, for “violating the FACE Act through force, threats of force, and physical obstruction, resulting in bodily harm” and conspiracy to violate the FACE Act, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. On November 8, 2023, Williams was acquitted of the conspiracy charge but found guilty of the FACE Act violation. Chavannes was acquitted on both charges.

Williams — who in the four years since the New York City protest has gotten married and become a mother to a now two-year-old little girl — was blindsided by the length of the sentence she was given. In a conversation with Live Action News following her sentencing hearing, Williams said she knew of another recent case in which a woman convicted of PPP-loan related fraud totaling millions of dollars received just over one year in prison – a significantly lesser sentence than her own.

“It just shows you what their priorities are,” Williams commented.

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