Brett Kavanaugh's assassination plotter gets 8 years — far below prosecutors' 30-year push

The person who plotted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.

According to The Washington Post, Sophie Roske's sentence "was 22 years less than the minimum of 30 years sought by prosecutors." However, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman "cited Roske’s decision to call 911 after arriving in Kavanaugh’s neighborhood in 2022 and Roske’s lack of criminal history. Federal sentencing guidelines in the case, while not binding, also recommended a sentence of at least 30 years."

As part of the sentencing, Roske, who pleaded guilty in April, will also face a lifetime of court supervision after release.

Roske was identified as Nicholas in charging documents; however, "In a recent court filing, attorneys representing Roske said their client goes by Sophie Roske and is transgender. Roske began transitioning in 2020, the filing says. Roske’s name in court headings remains Nicholas Roske. In court Friday, Roske’s attorneys and Boardman referred to the defendant as Ms. Roske."

Prosecutors had argued, in their justification for a harsher sentence, that Roske was only motivated to turn herself in by the presence of U.S. Marshals in the justice's neighborhood. However, Roske and her attorneys have argued she had a true change of heart, and called the authorities to peacefully turn herself in.

In a letter to Boardman, Roske outlined her remorse.

“I was deluded into thinking this was a way I could make significant change before killing myself,” she said in the letter. “Once I actually arrived in his neighborhood, my whole perspective shifted. I had become so focused on the effects policy has on people that I forgot the judges and politicians making policy are real people too.”