The man who was accused of trying to kill President Donald Trump as he ran for office has been sentenced to life in prison.
Ryan Routh, according to CNN, was lying in wait in a sniper’s nest near the president’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course in 2024. His plot to kill the president was stopped by a Secret Service agent.
Prosecutors said he was waiting for Trump to enter the line of fire, NBC News reported.
Routh was convicted of five counts in a trial where he represented himself. At one point during his trial, Routh attempted to stab himself in the neck with his pen, but U.S. marshals intervened and escorted him from the courtroom.
He argued that there was no crime since he never fired his weapon at the now-president, NBC News reported.
The counts included the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, using a firearm in furtherance of a crime, assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm as a felon and using a gun with a defaced serial number.
Prosecutors asked for life without parole, saying that Routh was unrepentant and never apologized, The Associated Press reported.
The defense attorney assigned to the sentencing asked for 27 years, saying that Routh is 60 years old.
Routh was also given an additional seven-year sentence for a firearms offense, NBC News reported.
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