Attempted Trump assassin to learn sentence, with prosecutors seeking life

The gunman convicted of trying to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in 2024 is set to be sentenced Wednesday, with prosecutors pushing for a life term. 

Ryan Routh, 59, was found guilty last September on five federal criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and multiple firearms offenses. After the verdict was read, Routh reportedly appeared to try to stab himself in the neck with a pen before four U.S. Marshals restrained him. 

“Routh remains unrepentant for his crimes, never apologized for the lives he put at risk, and his life demonstrates near-total disregard for law,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed last month in which they argued he should spend the rest of his life in prison, in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines. 

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.

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“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.” 

Routh’s sentencing in Fort Pierce, Fla., had initially been scheduled for December, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon 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 most of the trial. 

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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, Fla., country club.

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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. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.