ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — The daughter of former U.S. intelligence director John Negroponte was sentenced Friday to 35 years in jail within the deadly stabbing of a buddy after a drunken argument at a Maryland dwelling, prosecutors introduced.
Sophia Negroponte, 30, of Washington, D.C., was convicted in January of second-degree homicide within the 2020 demise of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen. Tips referred to as for a sentence of 15 to 25 years, however Montgomery County Circuit Courtroom Decide Terrence McGann went past these tips, citing a necessity for neighborhood safety and rehabilitation, and calling her a “struggling, anger-filled alcoholic,” information shops reported.
“That rage drove Ms. Negroponte to stab her buddy within the neck,” McGann mentioned.
“Whereas nothing can ease the ache attributable to this mindless lack of life, we thank Decide McGann for an applicable jail sentence on this case,” Montgomery County State’s Lawyer John McCarthy mentioned in an announcement.
Almost a dozen folks, together with Rasmussen’s mom, Dr. Zeba Rasmussen, gave sufferer impression statements at Friday’s listening to. She remembered her son as charismatic with a “large caring coronary heart for everyone.” His father, Steve Rasmussen, referred to as his son a present, saying household and buddies will all the time surprise what they misplaced with Rasmussen’s killing.
All the sort issues mentioned about Rasmussen had been true, Sophia Negroponte mentioned on the listening to.
“He was a really lovely and loving and caring individual. … I’m really sorry,” she mentioned.
Sophia Negroponte was considered one of 5 deserted or orphaned Honduran youngsters that John Negroponte and his spouse adopted after he was appointed as U.S. ambassador to the Central American nation within the Eighties, in line with The Washington Publish.
Rasmussen and Sophia Negroponte attended the identical Washington highschool and had been consuming, together with one other individual, on the evening Rasmussen was killed, McCarthy mentioned. They argued twice that evening and Rasmussen left. When Rasmussen returned to get his cellphone, Negroponte “stabbed him a number of instances, one being a demise blow that severed his jugular,” McCarthy mentioned.
At trial, protection lawyer David Moyse urged jurors to contemplate that Sophia Negroponte was too intoxicated to kind particular intent.
“Alcohol pervades this case from the beginning; it pervades her life,” he mentioned, including, “and it’s completely on the coronary heart of what occurred there that evening. And it’s one of many main causes that that is completely not a homicide.”
Former President George W. Bush appointed John Negroponte because the nation’s first intelligence director in 2005. He later served as deputy secretary of state. He additionally served as ambassador to Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations and Iraq.