A federal judge has handed down a life sentence to the man convicted of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at a Florida golf course in 2024. Ryan Routh, the defendant, appeared in court on Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce.
The original sentencing date for Routh was in December, but it was postponed to allow him to secure legal representation. This decision followed a dramatic scene in Judge Cannon’s courtroom last September when Routh, upon being found guilty on all charges, attempted to harm himself with a pen.
Prosecutors argued for a severe sentence, citing Routh’s lack of remorse for his actions. At the time of the assassination attempt, Trump was actively campaigning for a second presidential term.
During the sentencing, a defense attorney, newly appointed for this phase, requested a 27-year sentence, highlighting Routh’s age of nearly 60 years as a mitigating factor.
Routh had chosen to represent himself for much of the trial, but opted for legal counsel for sentencing, prompting the rescheduling to ensure he had adequate representation during this crucial stage.
Routh’s sentencing was initially scheduled for December, but the judge agreed to move the date back after Routh decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself, as he did for the majority of the trial.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Routh has yet to accept any responsibility and should spend the rest of his life in prison, in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines. He was convicted of trying to assassinate 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.
“Routh remains unrepentant for his crimes, never apologized for the lives he put at risk, and his life demonstrates near-total disregard for law,” the memo said.
Routh’s new defense attorney, Martin L. Roth, asked for a variance from sentencing guidelines: 20 years in prison on top of a seven-year, mandatory sentence for one of the gun convictions.
“The defendant is two weeks short of being 60 years old,” Roth wrote in a filing. “A just punishment would provide a sentence long enough to impose sufficient but not excessive punishment, and to allow defendant to experience freedom again as opposed to dying in prison.”
Prosecutors said Routh spent weeks plotting to kill Trump before aiming a rifle through shrubs while the Republican presidential candidate played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club.
At Routh’s trial, a Secret Service agent helping protect Trump on the golf course testified that he spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and run away without firing a shot.
In the motion requesting an attorney, Routh offered to trade his life in a prisoner swap with people unjustly held in other countries and said an offer still stood for Trump to “take out his frustrations on my face.”
“Just a quarter of an inch further back and we all would not have to deal with all of this mess forwards, but I always fail at everything (par for the course),” Routh wrote.
In her decision granting Routh an attorney, Cannon chastised the “disrespectful charade” of Routh’s motion, saying it made a mockery of the proceedings. But the judge, who was nominated by Trump in 2020, said she wanted to err on the side of legal representation.
Cannon signed off last summer on Routh’s request to represent himself at trial. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that criminal defendants have the right to represent themselves in court proceedings, as long as they can show a judge they are competent to waive their right to be defended by an attorney.
Routh’s former federal public defenders served as standby counsel and were present during the trial.
Routh had several previous felony convictions, including possession of stolen goods, and a substantial online footprint suggesting his disdain for Trump. In a self-published book, he encouraged Iran to assassinate him, and at one point wrote that as a Trump voter, he must take part of the blame for electing him.
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