A man who plotted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison in a case that drew national attention for both its political implications and its entanglement with gender identity issues.
The defendant, formerly Nicholas Roske and now identifying as Sophie Roske, pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate the justice. Prosecutors said Roske was motivated by anger over a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion signaling the court’s intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Roske traveled to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home armed with burglary tools and weapons, intending to break in and kill him, according to court filings.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced shortly after the sentencing that the Justice Department would appeal, calling the eight-year term “woefully insufficient.”
According to court documents, Roske abandoned the plan after noticing a security presence outside Justice Kavanaugh’s home and later called authorities to confess.
In court, Roske requested an eight-year prison term, while federal prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, sentenced Roske to 97 months in prison along with lifetime supervised release, aligning more closely with the defense’s request.
In her ruling, Boardman said Roske had demonstrated remorse for the attempted attack, the Washington Times reported.
In a letter submitted to the court last month ahead of sentencing, Roske wrote that the planned attack was not “representative of who I am.” He said that once confronted with the reality of the situation outside Kavanaugh’s home, he abandoned the plan.
“I am very glad I did not continue,” Roske said in the letter, which he sent about a week after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “I am also sorry for contributing to a trend of political violence in American politics.
“All I want is to go home to my friends and family and see what good I can do out in the world. Please, for their sake as much as mine, give me the chance to be the best version of myself,” Roske wrote, according to the Times.
Roske attributed the plot to mental health struggles, describing periods of suicidal thoughts and difficulty reconciling gender identity with a “conservative Christian” upbringing.
Roske said therapy and medication provided some stability, but treatment was disrupted during the coronavirus pandemic after declining virtual therapy sessions, the outlet reported.
Prosecutors, however, argued that Roske had been fully prepared to carry out the attack and only abandoned the plan after encountering U.S. marshals stationed outside Kavanaugh’s home.
“The defendant’s actions and intent — which were determined, focused and undeterred for months — were extremely dangerous to the lives of multiple sitting judges, their family members and the constitutional judicial order,” Justice Department lawyers argued in a sentencing memo.
Boardman expressed doubt that the plot had come close to being carried out, noting that Roske ultimately called authorities to confess. She said that decision indicated Roske did not pose the level of danger prosecutors alleged.
Boardman also acknowledged that Roske, as a transgender inmate, could face additional challenges while serving a prison sentence.
But Bondi disagreed, saying the judge got it wrong this time.
“The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” she said. “The Department of Justice will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.”
Court filings show Roske began considering an assassination as early as 2022. His focus on the Supreme Court solidified after the May leak of a draft opinion in the Dobbs case, which ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade.
Records indicate Roske researched multiple justices before settling on Kavanaugh, who had been appointed to the court by President Donald Trump during his first term.
