Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Man who shot at White House sentenced to 25 years

WASHINGTON — An Idaho man who pleaded guilty to firing an assault rifle at the White House in 2011 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

A federal judge in Washington sentenced Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez on Monday.

Prosecutors had asked he spend 27 ½ years in prison for the shooting. No one was injured, but prosecutors say Ortega-Hernandez hit the executive mansion about eight times and did nearly $100,000 in damage.

Ortega-Hernandez's lawyers argued he was suffering from extreme depression and mental stress at the time of the shooting and was under the misguided belief that Armageddon was coming. They asked for a 10-year sentence.

Prosecutors initially charged Ortega-Hernandez with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama but agreed to drop the charge as part of a plea deal last year.

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