FRESNO, Calif. — Brigit Marie Bissell, 27, of Bothell, Washington, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to destroy or remove property to prevent seizure, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, on Jan. 14, 2022, Bissell was arrested in Fresno County. Following Bissell’s arrest, agents seized two of her cellphones and informed her they would be seeking a search warrant to search the contents of her phones.
Between Jan. 16, 2022, and Jan. 17, 2022, Bissell called her associate from jail and explained that the FBI had seized her phones and was in the process of obtaining a search warrant. Bissell then instructed her associate to log in to her iCloud account and delete the contents of her phone. Bissell’s associate agreed to carry out their plan of deleting the contents of the phone for the purpose of preventing or impairing the FBI’s investigation.
The case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Highway Patrol’s Special Operations Unit, and the Fresno High Impact Investigations Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonio J. Pataca is prosecuting the case.
Bissell is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Jan. 17, 2023. Bissell faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.