GREENBELT, Md.—The man who planned to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 in an attempt to change the court’s balance of power was sentenced by a Joe Biden-appointed judge on Friday to 97 months in prison, granting the defendant’s request for an eight-year sentence.
Judge Deborah Boardman, a Joe Biden appointee to Maryland federal court, acknowledged there was “a whopping 22-year difference” between that and the minimum of 30 years called for by federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had asked for sentencing guidelines to be followed.
The Department of Justice plans to appeal the sentence, The Daily Wire has learned.
Nicholas Roske traveled from California to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home armed with cache of weapons after a leaked document showed that the court planned to rule against liberals on abortion. Although he had meticulously planned the assassination for months, he had a change of heart outside the conservative justice’s home and called the police to turn himself in.
He has been detained in the three years since, so with time served and good behavior, Roske’s sentence would mean he could be out four years after being sentenced on the charge of Attempt to Assassinate a U.S. Justice. The sentence also included lifetime court supervision.
Boardman said “Under the law I must consider the sentencing guidelines. The guidelines in this case are 360 months to life. It’s important to understand the Supreme Court stance on guidelines… They used to be mandatory, but in [a case called] Booker the Supreme Court held that they were advisory.”
The judge acknowledged that “this crime did involve domestic terrorism,” but undid most of the “terrorism enhancement” created by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase recommended punishments in terrorism cases.
“I have not seen evidence that the Sentencing Commission relied on evidence that it would reduce recidivism,” she said. She said recent research in the Georgetown Law Journal said terrorists are not uniquely incapable of being rehabilitated.
The sentencing took more than seven hours, with much of the time dedicated to discussing how Roske’s transgender identity meant he should get a lighter sentence.
In a more than hour-long speech justifying the light sentence, Boardman said “Ms. Roske came out to herself as transgender in 2020 but kept it secret. Ms. Roske’s sister came out as gay two years prior but Ms. Roske saw that their parents struggled to reconcile her sexuality with their religious beliefs.”
“I am heartened that this terrible infraction has helped the Roske family… accept their daughter for who she is,” Judge Boardman said.
“I am heartened that this terrible infraction has helped the Roske family… accept their daughter for who she is,” Judge Boardman said.
His mother Colleen told the judge on Friday that “I have attended PFLAG meetings and learned about the LGBTQ+ community. I am committed to going on this journey with Sophie… She was frustrated with what was going on in the world, and we weren’t a safe place to process it.” As his mother wept, Nicholas Roske also choked up, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
Boardman said “Any prison time is punishment for her. The length doesn’t need to be particularly long… unduly harsh conditions make a difference, too.” The judge continued, “She will be imprisoned in a male facility even though she is a transgender prisoner, pursuant to an executive order from the president. Before the executive order, that wasn’t the case.”
Roske and his mother, father, and sister all spoke in court, emotionally describing how hard it has been on the family. Kavanaugh’s relatives did not address the court, but left the courtroom abruptly after the judge issued the light sentence.
Earlier in the hearing, Boardman lashed out at prosecutors and President Donald Trump, saying “Let’s not hide the fact that President Trump issued an executive order saying transgender inmates would be assigned to prisons with their biological sex.” The prosecutor replied that there was an injunction holding up much of the enforcement of that executive order, and the judge later state that Roske could, in fact, get hormone replacement in prison, at least while the injunction was in effect.
In court, Roske appeared as a tall man with a deep voice. His online posts show that even as a transgender, he is attracted to women, not “cis men.”
The judge opined about giving a shorter sentence because of Roske’s transgenderism even as she said that thanks to a court injunction, Roske may get female hormones in federal prison. “With the injunction in place, Ms. Roske could receive gender affirming care, but if that injunction goes away, she could be denied it. So when I sentence her, I take into account that she is a transgender woman.”
Prosecutor Coreen Mao said “A single-digit sentence will say the ends justify the means, it’s a gamble one will take to assassinate a Supreme Court justice.”
Boardman said “Why do you think that Ms. Roske, sitting here three years later, poses a danger to the public? … We can agree Ms. Roske neeeds intensive therapy. Will she be provided that in the Bureau of Prisons? We both know about the significant shortcomings by BOP in providing therapy.”
Roske’s lawyer said, and Boardman agreed, that Roske should get significant credit for calling the police and telling them about his plan. Prosecutors said he was spooked when he saw deputy U.S. Marshalls guarding Kavanaugh’s home.
His lawyer said “What makes this case unique is not that Ms. Roske tried to kill a political figure, it’s that she stopped and turned herself in.”
Boardman interjected: “Judges are not political!”
During the trial, the judge referred to the defendant by female pronouns, sometimes calling him by male pronouns and then correcting herself. Prosecutors avoided pronouns and called him “the defendant.” As The Daily Wire reported last month, Roske’s legal name remains Nicholas and the case is captioned United States vs. Nicholas Roske. His legal team telegraphed ahead of the trial that much of the argument at sentencing would be based around this transgender identity.
READ MORE: Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Should Be Let Off Easy Because He Identifies As Transgender, Family Says
A Daily Wire review of Roske’s postings on Reddit before the shooting shows that he is one in a string of violent trans-identifying individuals who are obsessed with video games and leftist politics. In one, he said he was a “Trans Gamer Girl Seeking Friend.” In another, he said he was “Seeking Daddy to Have Complete Sexual Control Over Me.”
Still another post said “Dating: I am into androgynous or feminine people who use she/her pronouns…. Play Partners: Pretty kinky, have a fet account and everything…. If you are not a cis man, chances are I am interested in playing with you :).”
Like the boyfriend of Tyler Robinson, who allegedly assassinated Charlie Kirk, Roske was apparently a “furry.”
He put out a classified ad calling himself a “MtF Pet For Owner.” It said, “I want to wear nothing but a collar, ears, and tail plug and communicate only through my body what I want.”
In one Reddit post, he explained that “I am pro-abortion (in favor of aborting fetuses, not pro-choice).” He said that all babies should be aborted, because they cannot give consent to being born. “This would require no deaths of people already in existence, it would simply prevent new people from coming into existence. Over time, resources would become more plentiful, another benefit of this method,” he wrote.
On May 20, 2022, he asked Reddit users, “The Roe v Wade leak has brought a lot of attention to the supreme court and what it is capable of. If going into the future the supreme court retains the same members, what is a realistic expectation for the future? On the other hand, if a conservative judge were replaced by a liberal judge, thus changing which party has the majority, what would change?”
The next day, he posted in Reddit’s “forensics” forum, claiming to be a novelist: “Writing a killer who is obsessed with not leaving evidence. What methods could they use?”