QAnon Shaman who stormed the Capitol is negotiating a plea deal after prison psychologists diagnosed him with 'transient schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and anxiety'

 The 'QAnon Shaman' who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 riot is negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors, after prison psychologists found he suffers from a variety of mental illnesses. 

Jacob Chansley, 33, is perhaps the most recognizable of the 535 people arrested over the riot after he was photographed inside the government building in face paint and a distinctive horned headdress.

The conspiracy theorist was arrested on six federal charges, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. 

Chansley is facing years in prison if found guilty, and is currently being held behind bars ahead of his trial. 

However, in an interview with Reuters, Chansley's defense lawyer Albert Watkins said that it's possible his client could cut a plea deal after officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) diagnosed him with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. 

Chansley, of Arizona, is a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory that casts President Trump as a savior figure and elite Democrats as a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals. 

Watkins said his client has expressed some delusions including 'believing that he was indeed related directly to Jesus and Buddha.' 

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The 'QAnon Shaman' who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 riot is negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors, after prison psychologists found he suffers from a variety of mental illnesses 

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Chansley shot to worldwide infamy when he stormed the Capitol sporting face-paint, a fur hat and holding a Star-Spangled spear 

Watkins says the BOP's findings, which have not yet been made public, suggest Chansley's mental condition has deteriorated due to the stress of being held in solitary confinement at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia.  

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Chansley, who is pictured in a February mugshot, is being held in solitary confinement at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia

'As he spent more time in solitary confinement... the decline in his acuity was noticeable, even to an untrained eye,' Watkins stated. 

'What we've done is we've taken a guy who is unarmed, harmless, peaceful... with a pre-existing mental vulnerability of significance, and we've rendered him a chocolate soup mess,' Watkins said. 

The BOP in 2017 was faulted by the Justice Department's inspector general for its use of special housing units to confine inmates with mental illness, and the BOP agreed to place limits on the amount of time inmates remain in restrictive housing and to ensure they have meaningful human contact.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic led the BOP to step up its use of solitary housing units as a way to quarantine inmates to contain the spread of the virus.

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Chansley is facing years in prison if found guilty, and is currently being held behind bars ahead of his trial

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Prosecutors said Chansley went into the Capitol carrying a US flag attached to a wooden pole topped with a spear, ignored an officer's commands to leave, went into the Senate chamber and wrote a threatening note to then-Vice President Mike Pence

Meanwhile Watkins says Chansley's 2006 mental health records from his time in the U.S. Navy show a similar diagnosis to the BOP's.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on the case.

Meanwhile, Watkins did not say what specific charges Chansley was considering pleading guilty to, but defendants negotiating plea deals typically seek to plead to a less serious charge to reduce their potential prison sentences.

Watkins said authorities will need to determine how Chansley can get access to the treatment he needs to 'actively participate in his own defense.' Pleading guilty to a charge negates the need for a trial, but defendants still have to be declared mentally competent to do so.

Watkins said the BOP's evaluation of his client did not declare Chansley to be mentally incompetent, and he does not expect Chansley to be ordered to undergo what is known as competency restoration treatment.

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This courtroom sketch of Jacob Chansley was shown to press outside the United States District Court back in January 

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Federal prosecutors have arrested 535 people on charges of taking part in the violence, which saw rioters battle police, smash windows and send members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for safety 

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The rioters stormed the Capitol after Trump's 'Stop The Steal' rally and during a vote to certify the Electoral College count which declared Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 Presidential Electio

Federal prosecutors have arrested 535 people on charges of taking part in the violence, which saw rioters battle police, smash windows and send members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for safety.

About 20 defendants so far have pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the attack, according to a government tally.

Earlier this week, the first person sentenced to hard time for playing a role in the riot was seen saying an emotional farewell to his girlfriend just a day after he admitted his guilt in court. 

Paul Hodgkins, 38, received an eight-month sentence and was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution after cutting a plea deal with prosecutors.  

Prosecutors had asked for 18 months, his defense called for no prison time. The maximum sentence was 20 years.

In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.

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In this image from US Capitol Police video, Hodgkins stands in the well on the floor of the US Senate on January 6. Hodgkins was sentenced on Monday to eight months in prison