Lynne Sandford, the mother of Michael Sandford, told the station her son has signed a plea agreement in advance of a Nevada court appearance Tuesday, Sept. 13.
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A 20-year-old British man accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump at a June rally in Las Vegas has pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of being an alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function.
Standing in orange jail clothes with the word “detainee” across his back, Sandford acknowledged that he has been treated in the past for mental illness.
Mrs Sandford added: “Obviously it was extremely hard to turn around and leave him and get on the plane – not knowing when we will see him again”.
He had been facing 20 years in a U.S. prison, but the lesser charges means he could be deported and his sentence reduced.
Speaking to the Press Association from the United Kingdom shortly after her son’s guilty pleas were entered, Mrs Sandford said: “He is incredibly sorry and remorseful for everything and has said to me “you know under normal circumstances I would never do anything like that mum”.
“It was the best thing to be able to go out there and see him, even though for the first two days I was separated by him from a wire mesh”, she said.
In the initial June 20 criminal complaint stemming from the incident, prosecutors said Sandford had told a US Secret Service agent he had driven to Las Vegas from California with the aim of shooting Trump.
Brenda Weksler, one of Sandford’s federal public defenders, declined to comment.
Michael Sandford, 20, from Dorking, Surrey, was due to stand trial over an incident at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on 18 June. Sandford also suffers seizures, obsession-compulsion, anxiety and autism spectrum disorders, Chahal said.
According to Sandford’s family attorney, a psychiatrist enlisted to offer a diagnosis said the defendant was delusional at the time.
“Michael was not in control at the time of the events and needs help”, the attorney said in an email to The Associated Press before the plea in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. “He is desperate to return to the U.K.to be near his family as he has no ties with the U.S.A”.
As a result of his plea, “It is nearly certain that he will be permanently removed. and will not be able to return to the United States at any time in the future”, the document said. But the candidate, now the Republican presidential nominee, noticed the commotion. “Thank you. Thank you, officers”, Trump said as Sandford was ushered away.
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“It is fortunate that no one was harmed in this incident”, Daniel Bogden, the USA attorney for Nevada, said in a statement Tuesday. Still, his mother says, “Every stage is a stage closer to him being able to come home”.
