Ryan Wesley Routh, 59, was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump at one of his golf courses in West Palm Beach in the fall of 2024.
A federal jury on Sept. 23, found Routh guilty of trying to kill the then presidential nominee at Trump International Golf Club. A Secret Service agent spotted the gun and shot at Routh chasing him off.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Routh, who is originally from North Carolina.
Routh’s attorney suggested a 27-year sentence would be punishment enough for the crime citing no one was hurt in the melee, but prosecutors disagreed.Prosecutors described the assassination attempt as a narrowly averted, while Routh suggested his actions were a peaceful protest, the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network reported. During the trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Routh told jurors he was incapable of pulling the trigger and had been guilty only of “caring too much.”
“To merely have a weapon in the presence of another is not intent,” said Routh, who fired his attorneys ahead of the trial and had represented himself.
After his conviction, Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen. Routh had asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a “just punishment,” in hopes of avoiding life in prison.
