Alleged Gunman May Get 20 Years Despite Escaping Assassin Charge
Ryan Wesley Routh’s felony rap sheet includes multiple convictions in North Carolina among them a conviction for possessing a weapon of “mass death” 2002.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office
The alleged gunman suspected of an assassination attempt against Donald Trump was charged with two felonies: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number on Monday. While the FBI said they were investigating the shooting incident at the former president’s West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday as an apparent assassination attempt, Ryan Wesley Routh was not slapped with a criminal complaint of attempted assassination or any violent offense.
Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a convicted felon in Routh’s case, does still carry a maximum sentence of 15 years. The prison sentence for possessing a firearm with an altered serial number also carries up to 5 years. If found guilty of both charges, Routh, 58, could serve up to 20 years behind bars. Both crimes also carry a potential fine of $250,000.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida, Routh allegedly brought a semi-automatic rifle and scope with an “obliterated” serial number to the perimeter of Trump’s golf course grounds. Cell phone records placed Routh in the vicinity of the rifle and other found items on Sunday, where he remained for twelve hours that day undetected by officials.
He was apprehended by law enforcement in a traffic stop after being seen fleeing the suspected sniper’s nest in a Nissan SUV with plates taken from a reportedly stolen truck.
During the arrest, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said they asked Routh if he knew why he was being stopped and he “responded in the affirmative.” Body camera footage shows the suspected gunman remaining silent while being handcuffed on the road, wearing dark sunglasses.
Routh’s felony rap sheet includes multiple convictions in North Carolina. He was first convicted of possessing a weapon of “mass death,” a fully automatic machine gun in 2002 and then was found guilty of multiple counts of possessing stolen goods in 2010.
He has also faced charges of carrying a concealed weapon, hit and run, resisting an officer, and driving with a revoked license. Routh was ultimately convicted of all charges and sentenced to probation, according to North Carolina court records.
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