GREENBELT, Md.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0A California resident who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh at his Maryland home was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in prison by a federal judge, who imposed a punishment that is significantly more lenient than the Justice Department\u2019s recommendation. <\/p>\n
Sophie Roske, a transgender woman from Simi Valley charged under her legal name, Nicholas Roske, had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced her to eight years and one month behind bars followed by a lifetime of court supervision. Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of no less than 30 years, which was the low end of the range recommended by sentencing guidelines.<\/p>\n
Roske, then 26, had a pistol, a knife, zip ties and burglary tools in her possession when a taxi dropped her off outside Kavanaugh\u2019s home in Chevy Chase, Md., just after 1 a.m. on June 8, 2022. Noticing two U.S. Marshals Service deputies guarding the residence, Roske kept walking down the street and took a phone call from her sister. Then she dialed 911, reported having suicidal and homicidal thoughts and said she needed psychiatric help.<\/p>\n
The judge said law enforcement didn\u2019t know anything about Roske\u2019s plot until she called 911 and reported her crime unprompted. Boardman described Roske\u2019s conduct as \u201creprehensible\u201d but credited her with abandoning the plot before police detected her presence in Kavanaugh\u2019s neighborhood. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an atypical defendant in an atypical case,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would appeal \u201cthe woefully insufficient sentence … which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,\u201d Bondi said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Roske apologized to Kavanaugh and the justice\u2019s family \u201cfor the considerable stress I put them through.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake that I made will follow me for the rest of my life,\u201d Roske said before learning her sentence.<\/p>\n
Boardman acknowledged that Roske\u2019s plot caused \u201creal harm\u201d to Kavanaugh and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a justice of the Supreme Court, but he\u2019s a human being,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
After her arrest, Roske told investigators she was angry about a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court intended to overrule Roe vs. Wade, the landmark abortion case, according to an FBI affidavit<\/a>. Roske also was upset about the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun laws, the affidavit said. Kavanaugh voted with the court majority to overturn Roe in June 2022, and he has a long record of voting to defend and expand gun rights. <\/p>\n Roske\u2019s case underscores the pervasive threat of political violence in a polarized nation: The number of threats and \u201cinappropriate communications\u201d directed at federal judges and other court employees more than quadrupled<\/a> over a seven-year span, from 926 incidents in 2015 to 4,511 in 2021, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.<\/p>\n Roske targeted three of the high court\u2019s justices, prosecutors said. Killing one justice could change the decisions of the nine-member court \u201cfor decades to come,\u201d Roske wrote over an encrypted messaging platform to another user in May 2022. Roske added, \u201cI am shooting for 3.\u201d<\/p>\n Roske, 29, searched the internet for justices\u2019 home addresses and other information, including techniques for breaking into homes and killing somebody quietly. Roske also wrote about killing judges in encrypted messages.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious,\u201d Roske wrote.<\/p>\n Roske pleaded guilty in April to an attempted assassination charge without reaching a plea agreement.<\/p>\n Prosecutors recommended a prison term of no less than 30 years followed by a lifetime of supervised release.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defendant\u2019s objective \u2014 to target and kill judges to seek to alter a court\u2019s ruling \u2014 is an abhorrent form of terrorism and strikes at the core of the United States Constitution and our prescribed system of government,\u201d they wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n