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Ryan Routh was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison plus seven years following his 2024 assassination attempt against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in Florida.
The sentencing comes after Routh was convicted last September on five federal criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and multiple firearms offenses.
Routh spoke in court for about 15 minutes on Wednesday, repeating topics that he mentioned during his trial, such as talking about himself as a good person and his alleged work in Ukraine trying to recruit for their army.
However, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon eventually stopped Routh and made her sentencing, saying he is an evil person who intended to kill Trump and would have done so if it hadn’t been for a Secret Service agent who disrupted the plot.
ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSIN TO LEARN SENTENCE, WITH PROSECUTORS SEEKING LIFE
Ryan Routh is seen in May 2022 holding a banner stating ‘World Help Us’ during a demonstration in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Artem Gvozdkov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Prosecutors pushed for the 59-year-old to get a life sentence, while Routh’s attorney, Martin Roth, asked the judge for 20 years in prison on top of a seven-year, mandatory sentence for one of the gun convictions.
Roth said Wednesday that Routh “stands by his plea of not guilty” and that Routh has “objected to any claim that he attempted to murder” anyone.
“This would have been an easy kill. And the kill would have happened without [Secret Service] Agent Fercano,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Shipley later said. “This was intended to be a cold-blooded concealed kill… to make sure the American people didn’t even have the chance to vote for him [Trump].”
Roth argued that, “It would have taken less than an instant [for Routh] to pull the trigger but the defendant did not,” and, “At the moment of truth he did not fire.”
The judge pushed back, noting Routh’s history of arrests, to which Roth said, “He’s a complex person, I’ll give the court that, but he has a very good core.”
A sketch depicting court proceedings during the Ryan Routh sentencing in Fort Pierce, Fla., on Feb. 4, 2026. (Lothar Speer)
Routh then read from a statement, during which he said all he ever tried to do was be a good American and asked to be exchanged for a long list of political prisoners around the world.
About seven to eight minutes into his statement, Judge Cannon stopped him and asked him in an exasperated tone how much longer he had. Routh said he had about 20 pages, timed out to be about 30 minutes.
“I never drank, never smoked, never did drugs,” Routh said at one point. “I gave every ounce of myself to make America a better place.”
Cannon eventually cut him off.
“It’s clear to me that the guideline of life imprisonment and the minimal mandatory sentencing is in order,” she said.
“Your plot to kill was deliberate and evil,” she added. “You are not a peaceful man. And your criminal history shows it.”
She then issued his sentence: Life without parole, plus 7 years on a gun charge. His sentences for his other three crimes will run concurrently.
SECRET SERVICE AGENT DETAILS ‘TEXTBOOK AMBUSH,’ BIZARRE SELF-REPRESENTATION IN RYAN ROUTH TRIAL
Suspected would-be assassin Ryan Routh was arrested by law enforcement in Florida in September 2024. He was convicted of all charges against him. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office/Reuters)
Routh was clean shaven on Wednesday, wore a tan prison jumpsuit, and had longer hair than he did during his trial in September. Routh at times fidgeted with the shackles he had on his wrists.
At the end of the hearing, Routh whispered, “good job” to Roth. As he was escorted out, Routh turned toward the gallery and winked and blew a kiss.
Routh’s sentencing in Fort Pierce, Fla., had initially been scheduled for December, but 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.
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, Heather Lacy, Andre Tinoco and The Associated Press contributed to this report.