British Man Who Admitted To Trying To Kill Donald Trump Sentenced To More Than A Year In Jail And Deportation

Michael Sandford, a 22-year-old British man, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in a U.S. prison Tuesday for seizing a policeman’s gun at a June Donald Trump presidential campaign rally in Las Vegas in an attempt to kill the president-elect, BBC News reported Tuesday.

Sandford burst into tears in the Las Vegas courtroom, apologizing to U.S. District Judge James Mahan for his actions and for wasting tax dollars on his trial.

"I just feel terrible about it," Sandford told Mahan.

Sandford’s defense team argued he was autistic and had been dealing with seizures and obsession-compulsion anxiety.

Mahan seemed to be moved by Sandford’s emotional confession and sympathized with the ways in which his health disorder may have influenced his actions.

"You have a medical problem," Mahan told Sandford while explaining that because of his ailments he had “nothing to be ashamed of.”

"I don't see you as evil or a sociopath," Mahan said, “I don't think you harbored malice in your heart."

Sandford’s mother said she was “remorseful over what he did,” adding Sandford was “cherished and adored” by his family and friends. She said she had not heard from her son since he left the U.K. to travel to the U.S. in 2015.

Sandford’s mother said she didn’t have an answer to why her son attempted to shoot Trump, explaining she had never witnessed him demonstrating any interest in politics.

Mahan said Sandford had the potential to be released from prison after four months, and if so, he would be deported to the U.K.

Sandford pleaded guilty to federal charges of attempting to shoot Trump on Sept. 13, as well charges of disrupting an official function and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, which could have resulted in Sandford being sentenced to 20 years in prison, Reuters reported.

When Sandford was arrested for attempting to shoot Trump in June, he admitted to police he had been plotting to kill the billionaire Republican presidential nominee for a year. He said if he hadn't tried to assassinate Trump at the Las Vegas event, he had planned to do so at his next rally in Phoenix.

Sandford told the Secret Service he had been homeless and living in California illegally after his temporary visa expired when he drove to Nevada to shoot Trump. He said he had gone to a gun range in Las Vegas the day before his attempted attack to learn to shoot.

Sandford failed to remove the police officer’s gun from its holster while inside the Las Vegas theater where Trump was holding his campaign rally, CNN reported at the time. Sandford approached the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer under the guise he wanted the officer’s autograph and attempted to steal the gun while the two were having a conversation. Other officers at the event quickly detained Sandford. There were no other interruptions at the campaign rally.

"I tried to take a gun from a policeman to shoot someone with, and I'm pleading guilty," Sandford told the judge in September.