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Two people from the Chicago area are among the 19 defendants named in the Georgia indictment accusing former President Donald Trump

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and others of “criminal enterprise” illegally attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Fulton County prosecutors named Chicago publicist Trevian Kutti, 53, and Orland Park church pastor the Rev. Stephen Cliffgard Lee, 70, in the indictment, charging them for alleged racketeering, influencing witnesses and conspiring to commit false statements.

Kutti, who has worked as a publicist for musicians R. Kelly and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, first made local headlines in 2003 to defend a Gold Coast store’s window display showing rolled-up dollar bills perched alongside mounds of white powder and razor blades — an apparent nod to cocaine use.

Trevian Kutti, the then-director of operations of the Old Town boutique G’bani, sits in one of the storefront windows in 2004. The store had two storefront windows with anti-Iraq war sentiments. Kutti is one of two people from the Chicago area that are among the 19 defendants named in the Georgia indictment accusing former President Donald Trump and others of “criminal enterprise” illegally attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In 2009, another storefront got her into the paper, this time in a display featuring a $2,000 gown with a bold “plunge to the rear” at the Old Town boutique she owned. Neighbors complained when a sign next to the dress read, simply, “a–.” At the time, Kutti told the Tribune she was known for her racy window displays and argued the sign wasn’t obscene.

A state-run database of lobbyists working in Illinois identifies her as an active lobbyist for a cannabis company.

Prosecutors argue Kutti traveled to Fulton County after the election and misled election worker Ruby Freeman “by stating that she needed protection and by purporting to offer her help, with intent to influence her testimony in an official proceeding,” the indictment states.

Trevian Kutti's name is seen in the indictment in Georgia against former President Donald Trump on Aug. 15, 2023. Trump and several allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The criminal case announced Monday is the fourth brought against the ex-president in a matter of months.
Trevian Kutti’s name is seen in the indictment in Georgia against former President Donald Trump on Aug. 15, 2023. Trump and several allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The criminal case announced Monday is the fourth brought against the ex-president in a matter of months.

Freeman and her daughter were facing viral online attacks after Trump accused her of being a “professional vote scammer” and “hustler” who “stuffed the ballot boxes” in a call with Georgia state officials after the election. Testifying before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in June 2022, she and her daughter told lawmakers the accusations upended their lives.

“There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere,” Freeman said in a video. “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one.”

In a conversation with Freeman at a police precinct, Kutti presented herself as someone who could help Freeman, but then pressured her to falsely confess to election fraud, prosecutors alleged. Tutti also told Freeman that Freeman was “in danger” in a phone call, the indictment said.

The name of Rev. Stephen Cliffgard Lee is seen in the indictment in Georgia against former President Donald Trump on Aug. 15, 2023.
The name of Rev. Stephen Cliffgard Lee is seen in the indictment in Georgia against former President Donald Trump on Aug. 15, 2023.

Lee, a pastor at Living Word Lutheran Church, traveled to Freeman’s home in mid-December 2020 and spoke to her neighbor, “with intent to knowingly engage in misleading conduct” toward her by offering her help, the indictment alleges.

The next day, he returned to Freeman’s home and knocked on her door, it continued. Lee also recruited others to attempt to talk with Freeman, the indictment said. Kutti also attempted to contact Freeman at her home, it said.

Lee was not immediately reachable by phone Tuesday. Kutti did not respond to a request for comment sent via email.

According to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which Living Word Lutheran Church is part of, Lee is a retired pastor. A spokeswoman for the Northern Illinois district office of the synod, Ann Ciaccio, said Wednesday she could not provide any information regarding how long Lee had been at Living Word or when he retired.

“We have a policy of not commenting on investigations,” she said.

Officials from Living Word did not respond to messages left Wednesday seeking comment.

A court filing in the case from October 2022 by Willis’ office, alleges that Lee had gone to Freeman’s home on Dec. 15, 2020, a visit “which frightened her” and caused her to call police.

Lee had, according to the filing by the district attorney, told police he went to Freeman’s home to offer “pro bono service” and then left and returned a short time later, which prompted Freeman to call 911.

However, the publicist did take to social media, where she shared a post calling the indictment a “witch hunt.” She also shared a video skit featuring comedian Dave Chappelle to insinuate she would “plead the fifth” as she stated her support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

The Associated Press and Daily Southtown’s Mike Nolan contributed.

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