Man Who Attempted to Kill Trump is Sentenced to Life in Prison

Articles | February 4, 2026 | by Catholics for Catholics

Share

According to prosecutors, Ryan Routh is unrepentant, but his defense attorney said he is turning 60 and should not spend the rest of his life in jail.

By Catholics for Catholics

The man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump in a Florida golf course during the 2024 nerve-racking presidential campaign season was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Showing no signs of remorse all along the trial, Ryan Routh, who is about to turn 60, was sentenced in Fort Pierce by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. According to Newsmax, this happened in the same courtroom where back in September he tried to stab himself after hearing jurors had found him guilty on all counts.

Still, a defense attorney brought in for Routh’s sentencing asked for 27 years instead of life, noting that Routh is already turning 60. Routh also received a consecutive seven-year sentence for one of his gun convictions.

Initially, Routh’s sentencing had been set for December, but the judge acquiesced to move the date back after Routh chose to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself as he did for most of the trial.

🇺🇸 BREAKING: MAN WHO TRIED TO KILL TRUMP SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON

Ryan Routh just got life in prison for trying to kill Trump in 2024.

Secret Service spotted him with an SKS rifle in the bushes.

Source: Fox pic.twitter.com/H8pmwMguD2

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) February 4, 2026

Nevertheless, prosecutors said that Routh still has not acknowledged any guilt and should spend the rest of his life in prison, in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines. He was convicted of attempting to kill 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 prosecutor’s memo said.

But Martin L. Roth, Routh’s new defense attorney requested 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 the defendant to experience freedom again as opposed to dying in prison.”