Overview
- U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sentenced Routh to life in federal prison, with an AFP reporter in court noting it was recorded as life plus seven years.
- Prosecutors argued Routh meticulously plotted for months, sought to prevent voters from electing their choice, and has shown no remorse.
- Routh asked for a far shorter term—variously described as 27 years or 20 years plus a mandatory seven—citing age and mental-health evaluations, and he denied intending to kill.
- A jury convicted Routh in September 2025 on five counts after he represented himself at trial; he then tried to stab himself with a pen before marshals restrained him.
- Secret Service agents spotted Routh hiding in bushes with an SKS-style rifle near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course; investigators recovered the rifle, body-armor plates, a camera, multiple phones, travel records, and messages including a request for an RPG from a contact he believed was Ukrainian.