Sen. Rand Paul's Kentucky neighbor has been sentenced to an additional 13 months confinement over the 2017 attack that left the senator with broken ribs and loss of part of one lung.
Rene Boucher was originally sentenced to 30 days in jail, 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine for the attack. But prosecutors argued the sentenced was too light and got permission to try for a longer sentence.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Leitman handed down the additional time, the Lexington Herald Leader reported. Leitman gave Boucher eight more months in prison, taking off 30 days for time already served and made six moths of the sentence home confinement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Shepard said he might appeal the sentence. He had sought 21 months extra time for Boucher.
But Boucher's own attorney, Matthew J. Baker, said the original sentence should be sufficient, since adding more time would be punishing him twice for the same crime. Baker also noted a jury had ordered Boucher to pay Paul $582,000 in compensation for the attack. That award is under appeal.
The attack occurred after Paul put yard waste near a shared property line between the two men.
Boucher apologized in 2017, The Hill noted, saying, "What I did was egregiously wrong.
"I broke several ribs, I don't feel good about that. I'm embarrassed. I'm sorry for what (the Pauls) have gone through, and I'm sorry to my family for what I've dragged them through. I brought on all this embarrassment."
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