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A individual from California who admitted to trying to kill US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 was handed a prison term on Friday to 97 months in a federal penitentiary.

Court Hearing and Judge's Remarks

The individual, Sophie Roske, who was indicted under her original name Nicholas Roske but currently identifies with female pronouns, received her sentence during a court hearing before US District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Judge Boardman described Roske's offense as "completely unacceptable," but noted that the defendant showed genuine remorse, had a clean history, and was not expected to commit further crimes.

Details of the Case and Guilty Plea

Roske admitted guilt in April to the offense of attempted assassination and had faced a possible life imprisonment. Legal authorities stated that she traveled from California equipped with a firearm, bullets, a prying tool, pepper spray, and other items with the purpose to carry out a killing "for terroristic purposes."

Upon arriving at Kavanaugh's home, Roske contacted the police after seeing US marshals stationed outside the house, informing the dispatcher that she was having suicidal thoughts and planned to harm Justice Kavanaugh, as recorded in legal documents.

Motivation and Defendant's Statement

Prosecutors indicated that Roske, who was 26 years old when taken into custody, was distressed about expected Supreme Court rulings that would end the federal abortion protections and weaken gun regulations.

Speaking personally to the district judge during Friday's hearing, Roske expressed regret to Kavanaugh and his family for "the significant anxiety" she had inflicted them.

"People have depicted me as a villain, and this grave error I made will haunt me for the remainder of my days," the defendant said.

Prosecution's Argument and Defense's Plea

The government's attorneys had advocated for a prison sentence of at least 30 years, arguing that Roske had premeditated her crime for several months and was resolved to locate the residences of multiple unnamed sitting Supreme Court justices.

"Roske represented a very real threat to our governmental structure, our founding document," assistant US attorney Coreen Mao declared at the hearing. She emphasized that no public official should live in fear of being murdered at any time for doing their job.

Roske's lawyers had requested Judge Boardman to sentence eight years or less, noting that she had called 911 to surrender and had worked with the authorities. Roske should be sentenced "for what she did, not for what she thought about," they contended.

Broader Context of Political Violence

The court ruling occurs amid signs of increasing ideologically driven attacks in the United States, including two tries to kill of Donald Trump during his election bid last year, and the death last month of conservative figure Charlie Kirk at a college campus in Utah.

Menaces against federal judges have more than doubled since 2021, according to official statistics reviewed by Reuters last year. Some judges who have ruled against Trump administration directives have faced intimidation and harassment along with their relatives, as reported in a Reuters investigation.