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Gorbey sentenced to 22 years |
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By Jordy Yager
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Posted: 08/15/08 11:46 AM [ET] |
Michael Gorbey was sentenced to 22 years in prison on weapons charges Friday in D.C. Superior Court. Judge Gregory Jackson handed down Gorbey’s sentence after having presided over the three-week trial earlier this year.
Under DC law, Gorbey will have to serve 85 percent of that sentence before he’s eligible for release.
Gorbey, 38, was arrested in January near the Supreme Court building while wearing a flak jacket and carrying a three-foot sword and loaded shotgun. He said he was on his way to a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts.
During the trial, Gorbey, who represented himself, argued he was the victim of a government conspiracy. He claimed the shotgun was a walking stick and that video footage showing him with the shotgun had been altered.
Weeks after the arrest, during a search of a truck Gorbey allegedly drove to the Capitol, police found components that could be used to build an explosive device. Those findings led a jury to convict Gorbey in May on 14 counts, including a weapons of mass destruction charge.
Gorbey’s sentencing date had been delayed twice since his conviction: once as Gorbey requested a new lawyer to represent him in his sentencing and a second time as court officers differed over the guidelines for determining his prison term.
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