By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
A federal judge has sentenced U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s neighbor to 30 days behind bars after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress.
FILE – In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, Rene Boucher, center, appears in court for an arraignment hearing with his attorney Matt Baker, left, at the Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green, Ky.
U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani termed Rene Boucher’s attack on Paul as a “dispute between neighbors” that was not motivated by politics.
Boucher, 60, said he reacted angrily when Paul stacked yard debris near their property line in a residential community in Bowling Green. Paul was injured in the melee.
Neither the judge nor the prosecutor had Kentucky connections. Battani is from Michigan. Prosecutor Josh J. Minkler is a U.S. attorney from Indiana.
Battani also ordered Boucher to serve a year of supervised release. Federal prosecutors sought a hefty prison sentence of 21 months. Paul, in a statement, said 30 days were “appropriate.”
“Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously,” Minkler said in a statement. “Those who choose to violate the law will be aggressively prosecuted in federal court.”
According to court documents, Paul, who had had a longstanding dispute with Boucher, was cutting his lawn on Nov. 3, 2017. Boucher said he had “had enough” when he saw Paul stacking brush on a section of lawn that he thought belonged to him.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul
“Boucher ran onto the victim’s property and tackled the victim,” a news release from Minkler’s office said. “As a result of this assault, the victim suffered multiple fractured ribs and subsequently contracted and required medical attention for pneumonia.”
The FBI investigated the incident.
“The FBI takes seriously assaults against our elected officials, regardless of motive,” said FBI Agent Amy Hess who leads the agency’s Louisville field office. “Today’s sentence should send a clear message that there are consequences to such actions.”
