Popular Youtuber Locked Up for Running Down Cop

I know it was a difficult situation for. everyone present that day and I deeply. regret my actions. >> YouTuber Eric Conover built his name on. luxury tours and viral videos, but now. he was in court for something far more. serious. New Hampshire police say he hid. an officer and sparked a miles long. chase. And now in a dramatic courtroom. turn, Connover has entered a new plea. [music] and has learned his fate. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

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update to a story that we have been. following here on Sidebar. And it. involves YouTube lifestyle and luxury. real estate star Eric Conover, who has. nearly 3 million subscribers. And by the. way, you may watch his videos, you may. know him from his glamorous tours of. multi-million dollar mansions and vlogs. But his story took a turn. Yeah, it took. a very dark and violent turn. To be more. specific, this happened back in March. when prosecutors claim he led New. Hampshire police on a wild, dangerous, multi-mile chase after being spotted.

speeding. And it's alleged that during. that chase, he intentionally plowed into. a Bartlett police officer who was thrown. 40 feet and then led police on another. pursuit. Now, at first he was charged, Conover was charged with attempted. murder among other felonies. In court, he made explosive claims, vowing to. eviscerate anyone who questioned his. mental competency. And actually, with. that in mind, the case became a battle. over his mental state. His defense. claiming that he suffered from this. severe bipolar manic episode at the time.

this all happened. The prosecution, the. state alleged that he was plotting to. use that as a legal strategy and was. kind of making it up. And that. highstakes legal battle has now reached. a sudden and dramatic conclusion. Why? because Eric Conover appeared in court. and this time his tone was completely. different than what we heard before. >> I know it's a difficult situation for. everyone present that day. >> and I deeply regret my actions. >> That is a stunning shift. The YouTuber.

who once vowed to fight these charges. claiming police lied on paperwork that. this was a sting against him. He now. stood before a judge and changed the. course of his case forever. to. understand the why what happened in. court is so significant and what by the. way we can expect his life to look like. now I mean how many years in prison is. he going to get we have to really. understand the full story of this case. because honestly at times it's stranger. than fiction you have Eric Conover 36. years old big presence on YouTube star.

nearly 3 million subscribers his whole. channel is about luxury he tours these. insane multi-million dollar mansions he. makes lifestyle videos about living in. expensive ensive cities. His whole brand. is about glamour and aspiration. And it. was that brand that was shattered on. March 15th of this year in rural New. Hampshire when, according to police, Conover was spotted speeding in his Jeep. going 55 and a 35. When officers tried. to pull him over, he took off, leading. them first on an 8 mile chase. Now,

authorities say he eventually stopped. and that is when Bartlett police officer. Cameron EMTT approached the vehicle on. foot. And prosecutors claim that Conover. then intentionally drove into Officer. EMTT, rolled up on the hood. Police. reports say the officer was thrown 40. feet, suffered significant injuries. Thankfully, he's alive, but instead of. stopping, Conover took off again, leading police on a second 28 mile. chase. At one point, witnesses said he. was pumping his fist in the air through. the sunroof. Now, police were finally.

able to stop him. They used spike strips. to end the pursuit. So, first, the. charges were very severe. attempted. murder, first-degree assault, and. reckless conduct. Now, I mentioned that. prosecutors initially said that this was. intentional what he did with the. officer. As reported by WUR, it appeared. that the attempted murder charge was. actually thrown out months ago. As Carol. County Attorney Keith Blair explained, there wasn't enough evidence to prove. that he had the intent to kill the. officer that he ran over. So, they move. forward with the other charges. But from.

the very beginning, Conover's own words. in the courtroom, that is what became. the big part of this story. He was. defiant. He made claims about police. conspiracies. He talked about his. celebrity status. And then he issued. this statement to the court during his. arraignment. >> If anyone dares try to test my mental. confidence, I will in I will eviscerate. every single person with my intelligence. right now. And that's not being. egotistical. He claimed he was the. target of a police sting, denied the. claim, stating that he'd been sober for.

over 1500 days, insisted police had. falsified the paperwork. The judge. ordered him held without bail, by the. way. And what followed was a monthslong. fight over his mental competency. In. other words, does a criminal defendant. know what's going on? Can they. participate in their defense? Do they. understand the legal process as it's. happening? And as reported by WUR, there. was first a competency hearing held in. March. Then Conovert was ordered to be. sent to a mental health institution for. 30 days and in April he was deemed. competent. But then you had the second. mental health issue and this is.

different than competency, insanity. So. it was reported that his defense was. preparing an insanity defense. The. problem was, it seemed the prosecutors. were skeptical from the start about any. sort of mental health crisis that he may. have suffered because they introduced. recorded conversations that he had with. his father in jail where he allegedly. said, quote, "Mental health crisis is. our go-to. We plead mental illness and. get me to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical. Center to a nice facility." Now, by the. way, that was all introduced during the.

competency issue, but again, general. issue nonetheless about is his mental. health struggles, these alleged mental. health struggles, are they real? Can he. assert an insanity defense? This was. probably going to come up. But now we go. back to what just happened. The trial's. on the horizon, okay? And Eric Conover. walks into a Carol County courtroom and. made a choice that changed everything. He took a plea deal and pleaded guilty. to two felony charges, first-degree. assault and reckless conduct. And in. exchange for that, he was sentenced to a.

range of four to 10 years in state. prison. Convered the court, and this. time, the man who once promised to. eviscerate people had a very different. tone. >> I know it's a difficult situation for. everyone present that day, and I deeply. regret my actions. And by the way, that. officer that he hit, Cameron EMTT, provided a victim impact statement to. the court saying that what happened to. him permanently changed him. Okay, so to. help us understand the legal strategy. here, the surprising conclusion, by the.

way, what we can expect for his prison. term to actually be, we are joined right. now by seasoned trial attorney, friend. of the show, Rich Showenstein. Rich, thank you so much for coming on. It's. good to see you. Okay, why do you plead. guilty? I. >> I don't know about season, though, but. uh otherwise my. >> a good thing. It's a good thing. It. doesn't I don't think it's an age thing. I think it means you're so experienced. and so well read and and you you're like. our wealth of knowledge. I think it's a. good thing. >> That's how I'm going to interpret it. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think. that's the best way to do it. So anyway, why did he plead guilty? Talk to us.

>> Well, I think he plead guilty because. the case against him was so strong, he. didn't have a chance prevailing at. trial. And as we know, you know, you. know better than anyone, Jesse, when you. take these cases to trial and you lose, you get punishment that's much worse. than if you plead guilty, right? Because. the system wants people to plead guilty, wants people to avoid going to trial. And so there is some benefit to doing. that if you feel like you have no. chance.

>> Yeah. And I'll get into what the. potential prison sentence could be now, but you know, there is a shift here. There is a shift in the strategy. I. mean, for months, the defense seemed to. have been building up this mental health. issue, right? It was a case first around. competency and then it was potentially. an insanity defense, two different. things. But the state was alleging at. the beginning that this was a calculated. move. And that all changed with a guilty. plate. And I'm curious, let's start. here. if you were pushing forward with. this, it was a manic episode, you know,

he wasn't in control, there was an. insanity issue here, and I'll talk about. what New Hampshire law says about. insanity. Does that mean if he pleads. guilty now that all that wasn't true, or. does that just mean, hey, he's pleading. guilty, we just didn't think that that. was going to be a successful defense or. didn't want to try that defense? It. doesn't take away what we really believe. happened. If you're the defense, I mean, how do you reconcile it? Well, I think. it means you didn't think you could. prevail on that argument at trial. If. you had a defendant and you thought you.

had a really solid insanity defense or. some related defense, you probably. wouldn't be inclined to settle and have. your client be incarcerated. So, it. tells me they didn't think they were. going to prevail on that issue. Does he. seem troubled and disturbed from the. facts? Absolutely. But we face this all. the time. You know, to me, somebody who. would do what he did seems at a minimum. imbalanced. When does that become insane.

to a to the extent that it would be a. defense in a criminal case? Right? There's a line somewhere. But what I get. from this is that his lawyers didn't. think they were going to prevail one way. or another. >> By the way, insanity laws, I did a. little quick research on New Hampshire. law on insanity. It is a little. different in this state than it is in. other jurisdictions as far as I'm. seeing. So, from what I could find, it. seems like they follow a different rule. that a criminal defendant is not. criminally responsible if what they did. was a product of a mental disease or.

defect. It doesn't require, my. understanding, doesn't require an. official diagnosis of a mental illness. or disorder. So, it feels like those. questions are decided at trial. Still. tough to prove, but it's arguably more. broad than what we typically see in. other jurisdictions. So, I do wonder. what that would have even looked like. trying to argue that at trial and could. it potentially have been successful? I. mean, maybe, maybe not. >> Yeah. I don't know if it was going to be. from what I know about this case. You. you have somebody who leads a productive.

life, is successful on a level, who. seems to be pretty smart and capable, and he wants to say, "I just had this. one manic incident, and I drove. recklessly and could have killed a bunch. of people." and it's a product of this. mental condition I have. That seems to. me to be a stretch. I mean, that would. seem to be hard to get a jury to believe. that this otherwise competent person, like him or not, had a break that led to.

this. >> No sympathy for this guy. Let me be. clear. No sympathy for this guy. But, you know, driving so fast, going on a. first eight mile uh, you know, chase, then a 28 mile chase, running over an. officer, hand in the air, it seems like. the product of somebody who's not in. their right mind. But then again, you. couple that with the recorded phone. calls in jail with his father. Now, on. one hand, you can say, "Oh my gosh, the. state's right. He's been faking all of. this, deliberately trying to put forward. this mental health excuse, which doesn't. work." Or I mean, I guess the other way.

of looking at it is maybe he really did. have a manic episode and saying, "Hey, that's my best defense. It's true. That's my best offense. That's what I. have to go with." But I don't know if a. jury would have saw it that way if that. those phone calls would have come in. >> Yeah. I would have asked if I was the. prosecutor and that had gone to trial. Are can't anybody who's ever had a. high-speed chase now say this? Isn't a. high-speed chase inherently a manic. incident? And so, are we just going to. say that anyone who would engage in a. high-speed chase, therefore must be. suffering from some kind of mental.

condition that acquits them of. responsibility of engaging in the. high-speed chase? That doesn't make any. sense. But you talked about the phone. calls with the father, and that gets to. another issue, which is it seems like. this whole argument may have been. manufactured. M by the way talking about why he might. have pled guilty very big personality uh. on social media well on YouTube almost. over you know we're talking about 3. million subscribers I wonder if any of.

that could have come into evidence in. any way aside from jury selection hey do. you know this guy do you follow his. videos do you think any of his content. could have come in. >> no not unless it was somehow related to. the facts at issue you know we don't we. don't show much of the regular life of a. criminal defendant partially because it. might prejudice the jury against him to. show that this is the kind of person he. is. I guess the defense sometimes can. show that kind of stuff if they want to.

prove that he's a great dude and he has. this productive life and he's successful. on YouTube if that's a thing you want to. show a jury. But I don't think it would. have been used by the prosecution at. all. >> Four to 10 years, what does he get? And. and and that's a range right there, right? Uh first of all, when you think. about the overall case, the original. attempted murder charge could have meant. decades in prison, if not life in. prison. But as I mentioned before, prosecutors seemingly dropped that they. could improve intent to kill. It feels.

like a victory for him, four to 10 years. in prison, considering uh what he uh was. what was originally facing and what the. charges were here. But what do you think. he would serve? I mean, that is a range. there. >> Yeah, it is a range. And I don't know. specifically what the rules are there. for when he would get a parole. opportunity, if it could even come in. under that range, but this is his idea, right? Plead guilty to a charge that's. less drastic. I mean, I think the. attempted murder charge in this case was.

a stretch anyway. I don't think he was. trying to kill somebody on the road like. that. >> He put him on the hood and drove with. him and pushed him 40 feet. The guy's. lucky to be alive. >> Yeah, but I mean, I agree. Listen, I. agree. He shouldn't have done it. Was he. trying to kill the officer? I don't. know. But put that aside. Go back to. your original question. Yeah. He's. making a good deal here to get four to. 10 years. Presumably, if he behaves. himself and he does what he can do and.

he engages in rehabilitation efforts and. blah blah blah. He's a model citizen. At. a minimum, he gets out at the low end of. that range. And possibly he even gets. out sooner. So maybe this guy could be. out three or four years and then resume. with his life. And that to him probably. is a victory because if he had taken. this case to trial, uh I don't think he. had a path to victory and he could get a. very severe sentence. >> I also wonder though his comments. So. you even putting aside the recorded.

jailhouse phone calls, which I imagine. would come into the analysis later on if. he's ever released, but we had these two. versions of Eric Conover in the record. the one who vowed to eviscerate the. system, said that this was a plot. against him, that there was false. records against him, and then the one. who stood in court expressing regret. And first, you know, for a judge. weighing a sentence, I I did wonder, let's start there. How much does that. affect, you know, if you have a. defendant who was acting one way and. then apparently showing remorse another.

way, is that why you saw the four to 10. range? And uh I wonder if that affects. whether he gets the lower end or the. higher end. Yeah, I don't know about that. I have a. wildly speculative theory if you want to. hear it about his his initial comments. that the system was against him. I think. he was testing workshopping so to say a. defense of everybody's out to get me. I. mean, we've seen now there's this. tendency for parts of the public to get. behind criminal defendants, even.

contribute money to their defenses, protest their proceedings against them. And maybe he was hoping he could tap. into some of that by saying this was. rigged against him. >> You mean like followers showing up to. the court? >> Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Maybe he thought he. could be the next Karen Reed by way of. example and simply nobody bought it. Nobody was interested, I should say. And. so he dropped that and he went with a. new strategy, right? He tested that.

strategy. That didn't work. He thought. about an insanity strategy. He didn't. think that could work. >> And so he fell on strategy three, which. is plead guilty, get the lowest amount. of punishment possible, and get this. over with. >> I mentioned it before. Um, there was. this victim impact statement and you. hear this officer talking about his life. is forever changed. Aside from the fact. that it's a miracle he's alive after. what he went through, could the officer. I have to ask the the litigator here. I.

haven't seen any reporting suggesting. that he filed a lawsuit, but would the. officer have potentially a successful. civil case against Conover if he sued. him? And what would he sue him for? I. mean, again, if you're talking about a. big presence on social media making. these videos, you always think about. perhaps there's some money there. Your. thoughts? >> Yeah, I would. I mean, why not sue him. for hit and run, right? Just like you. would just like anybody would if a car. ran into them and carried them on the. hood and injured them and ran off. If. that just happened to you out on the.

street, you would sue that person. And. you would hope either that person has. some dough or there's insurance. I mean, if the guy has auto insurance, I'm not. sure if the insurance would cover this, but I would think that officer ought to. pursue civil remedies. I don't see why. not. I don't think being a police. officer would would negate his right to. that. Uh, and so, yeah, that's a good. idea. I hadn't thought about it until. you just mentioned it, but I think I. think he should look into it. >> I thought about this before you thought. about this. This is impossible. This is.

crazy. >> No, it's very it's very possible, Jesse. you know a lot more about these cases, but but you know the the criminal. outcome usually doesn't preclude civil. proceedings one way or another. >> Does it affect it? >> Yeah, because it's a actually it. probably would affect it because if I'm. the officer, I'm going to say he has. plead guilty. >> Yeah, he plead guilty to two charges. Firstdee assault and reckless conduct, >> right? So, this officer should sue him. for assault, hitand- run, I don't know, whatever they call it under that.

particular jurisdiction. And I would. definitely use that guilty plea as. collateral estoppel we call it. He is. barred from disputing that he did those. things because he's plead guilty to. assault. And first of all, I would say. to the officer, you know, thank you for. your service. I'm terribly sorry you. were hurt. I'm glad it wasn't more. severe. Get yourself a lawyer. >> Yeah. And again, just going back to this. as we think about if we this Eric. Conover legal drama is going to. continue. This is a sense of closure.

whether or not it extends into the civil. case. This is very different from what. the guy that we were talking about for. so long. I mean, his courtroom persona. was something else. The legal facts, you. know, a high-speed chase, an officer. struck, they were almost overshadowed by. the spectacle that Conover created. during his early hearings. I just want. to play some more of it again. I have. everything right here and it's all been. falsified. If anyone dares try to test. my mental confidence, I will in I will. eviscerate every single person with my. intelligence right now. And that's not. being egotistical. I've been sober from.

alcohol for 1,558. days. So to press me on a DUI, I'm a. public figure. >> So Rich, by the way, I just wondered. your opinion as this. If you're. representing a guy like this and he's. saying these things in court and he's. making these accusations, how do you manage a client like this? or. do you say wait a minute you know court. and which is what the early part of the. case was was a competency issue we're. really concerned about his mental health. we think his mental state is an issue uh. in this case how do you manage that.

well those are two separate issues the. competency issue is a very serious issue. that you have to take to the court and. they have to get somebody appointed who. can determine his competency because if. your client's incompetent it means. they're not even competent to work with. you on mounting the defense. And that's the heart of the problem. They're not able to participate in their. own defense and that has to be sorted. out. But let's assume now we have a. competent client and they're simply. disagreeable, loudmouthed, opinionated,

victimated, all of that stuff. You try. as hard as you can to get your client to. shut up. You try as hard as you can to. tell your client anything you say can be. used against you. And it continues, right? anything you say will be filmed. It will be used against you. But there's. a problem in a case like this where you. have a client who only exists because. they have a voice in the public. I mean, this is somebody whose job apparently is. being on YouTube. They expect to be.

heard. They expect to comment on. whatever is happening and they don't. want to stop just because there's a. court case. And that's very hard. You. have to really try to work to convince. the client that a court case is. different. All that matters is what that. jury decides. Stop trying to persuade. the public. Stop saying things that are. going to come back to haunt you. Let us. win this case and then you can say. whatever you want. But it's hard to get. that message across. >> Well, he has a very different reality.

now because he's no longer on YouTube. He is now in state prison and his future. is quite uncertain to say the least. Um. Rich Shoenstein, thanks so much for. taking the time. It was good to see you. Good to see you, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. [music] You can. follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll speak to you next time.