Jared Loughner sentenced
Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords stood next to her husband in court Thursday as he spoke directly to Jared Loughner, the Arizona man who tried to assassinate the then-congresswoman in a January 2011 shooting.
"Mr. Loughner, you may have put a bullet through her head, but you haven't put a dent in her spirit and her commitment to make the world a better place," former astronaut Mark Kelly said.
The attack seriously wounded Giffords, killed a federal judge, a congressional aide and four others, and left 12 other people wounded.
Loughner, 24, sat in the packed Tuscon, Ariz., federal courtroom listening to eight of his victims speak before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns sentenced him to serve the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. The punishment includes seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years.
"The evidence clearly shows that he knew what he was doing, despite his mental illness," the judge said.
Loughner spoke only once, confirming to the judge that he would make no statement before sentencing.
"That is true," he said.
He pleaded guilty to 19 charges in exchange for the life sentence to avoid facing the death penalty. He had been facing more than 50 federal charges.
"Mr. Loughner, you have been given a gift, whether you know it or not," Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Kleindienst said, just before recommending a life sentence. "Almost all the victims you shot and the families of those you killed came to us and said they didn't want us to seek the death penalty in this case."
Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet event with constituents in Tucson on that day in January last year when Loughner walked up and shot her in the head.