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FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Federal prosecutors are preparing to request a life sentence for a man convicted of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024. This request will be presented at a hearing on Wednesday.
Ryan Routh is expected to make an appearance in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon located in Fort Pierce. During his trial in September, chaos ensued when the jury found Routh guilty on all charges, including an attempt on the life of a presidential candidate and several offenses involving firearms. In a dramatic moment, Routh attempted to stab his own neck with a pen, prompting officers to swiftly intervene and remove him from the courtroom.
The initial sentencing was slated for December, but Judge Cannon postponed it after Routh opted to have legal counsel during this phase, having represented himself throughout most of the trial.
Prosecutors, in a memorandum submitted last month, emphasized Routh’s lack of accountability for his actions and argued for a life sentence in line with federal guidelines.
“Routh has shown no remorse for his crimes, has not apologized for endangering lives, and his conduct reflects a profound disregard for the law,” stated the memorandum.
Routh’s new defense attorney, Martin L. Roth, is asking the judge 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 sixty 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 shrubbery as the then-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, 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 following two hearings. 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.