The man who attempted to assassinate President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort has been sentenced to life in prison plus an additional seven years.
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According to Fox News, Ryan Routh was convicted in September on five federal criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer, and multiple firearms offenses.
Routh was discovered at the West Palm Beach resort in September 2024, less than two months after President Trump experienced his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Routh was discovered by Secret Service agents holding an SKS-style rifle just outside the fence of the golf course. He had been stationed by the fence for 12 hours, waiting for the then-presidential candidate Trump to golf. He pointed his gun approximately 400 yards (370 m) away from Trump just before an agent shot at him.
Although he fled the scene, Routh was later captured in Martin County during a traffic stop.
Routh Pleaded His Case For 15 Minutes During the Sentencing Hearing
While appearing in court on Wednesday, Routh pleaded his case for approximately 15 minutes. He mentioned that he even went to Ukraine to help recruit for their military against Russia.
However, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon stopped him and declared during his sentence that he was an evil person who intended to assassinate President Trump and would have done so had Secret Service not stopped him.
Routh’s attorney, Martin Roth, asked the judge for a 20-year sentence. This was on top of a seven-year mandatory sentence for one of the gun convictions.
Roth stated that he stood by his client’s not-guilty plea. He also explained that Routh has “objected to any claim that he attempted to murder” anyone.
“This would have been an easy kill. And the kill would have happened without [Secret Service] Agent Fercano,” assistant U.S. attorney John Shipley said. “This was intended to be a cold-blooded concealed kill… To make sure the American people didn’t even have the chance to vote for [Trump].”
Roth further argued, “It would have taken less than an instant [for Routh] to pull the trigger, but the defendant did not.”
Roth noted, “At the moment of truth, he did not fire.”
However, the judge then pointed out Routh’s arrest history. To which Roth replied, “He’s a complex person, I’ll give the court that, but he has a very good core.”