D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to Obstructing a Homicide Investigation

WASHINGTON - Antonio Nicks, 34, of Washington, D.C. pleaded guilty today to obstructing a homicide investigation, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Antonio Nicks was subsequently indicted and pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of obstructing justice and one count of contempt. His guilty plea to the indictment was entered on the eve of jury selection.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 26, 2026, before the Honorable Judith Pipe.

According to the government's evidence, on July 7, 2023 and July 28, 2023, Antonio Nicks testified under oath in a Superior Court grand jury proceeding in Washington D.C. that was investigating the July 9, 2022 stabbing death of Brittany Palmer.

During his grand jury testimony on July 7, 2023, Nicks declined to answer certain questions and purported to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege on various topics. On July 14, 2023, a Fifth Amendment privilege hearing was held before Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring. At this hearing, the Chief Judge found that Nicks did not have a Fifth Amendment privilege and ordered him to answer certain questions in the grand jury. During his grand jury testimony on July 28, 2023, Nicks refused to answer questions even though he acknowledged that he was ordered by the Chief Judge to do so. In subsequent hearings before Chief Judge Josey-Herring on October 2, 2023, December 11, 2023, and January 12, 2024, Nicks continued to express his refusal to answer questions as ordered by the Chief Judge.

Nicks was arrested on a material witness warrant on June 21, 2023, and has been in custody ever since.

This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Galloway.