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British man gets prison time in Trump attack case in Vegas

Posted at 6:00 PM, Dec 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-13 17:00:41-05
UPDATE:  A 20-year-old British man diagnosed with mental illness was sentenced to about four more months in a U.S. prison for trying to grab a police officer's gun in a plot to kill presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally last June in Las Vegas.
 
Michael Steven Sandford was sentenced Tuesday to one year and one day in prison, but has already spent about six months behind bars and is expected to receive about two months credit for good behavior in prison.
 
U.S. District Judge James Mahan blamed the attempt in a crowded Las Vegas strip casino ballroom on Sandford's mental illness.
 
Sandord will be deported after his release.
 
A prosecutor says he could be free by mid-April.
 
Sandford's mother, father, grandmother and 4-year-old sister were present in the courtroom.
 
 
ORIGINAL STORY:
 
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- Michael Sandford, who was arrested after attempting to kill Donald Trump at a rally in June, will face sentencing on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
 
Sandford pleaded guilty to two felony charges in September. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
 
The British citizen was unlawfully in the United States after overstaying his tourist visa that expired in August 2015. During the rally, he asked a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer if he could have Trump's autograph. When the officer replied, Sandford reached for the officer's handgun and attempted to pull it from the holster. Sandford was arrested on the spot and removed from the rally.