LEXINGTON, Ky. _ The neighbor who lost his temper and attacked Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul in 2017, breaking six of his ribs, has been sentenced to an additional 13 months confinement.
A federal judge initially sentenced Rene Boucher to 30 days in jail for the November 2017 attack, along with 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.
During a video hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Leitman handed down the new sentence against Boucher _ eight months in prison and six months on home confinement.
However, Leitman gave Boucher credit for the 30 days he already served, so he will have seven more months behind bars.
Prosecutors had appealed the initial sentence for Boucher, arguing it was unreasonably light, and won the right to try to get a longer sentence.
That led to Monday's hearing.
The new sentence for Boucher still wasn't as long as the government wanted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Shepard objected to the sentence, which could lead to yet another appeal by the government for stiffer sentence for Boucher.
The attack made national news because of Paul's position, but prosecutors have acknowledged it had nothing to do with politics.
Rather, Boucher, who lived next door to Paul in a gated community in Bowling Green, attacked Paul because he got angry over Paul stacking limbs and other yard waste near their shared property line, according to the court record.
Boucher ran down a hill and tackled Paul from behind when Paul got off his lawn mower on Nov. 3, 2017. Paul was wearing noise-canceling headphones and didn't hear Boucher coming.
Three of Paul's ribs were snapped in two, allowing the ends to grind together painfully.
