James Alex Fields
James Alex Fields Jr., the man who killed Heather Heyer and injured dozens of other people when he rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotestors at a 2017 rally of white nationalists and others, was sentenced to life in prison Friday.
Fields pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes in March. The guilty plea took the death penalty off the table as a possible punishment.
Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that life in prison is the only appropriate sentence.
Fields, in his memorandum, pleaded for mercy and asked for a lesser sentence. Through his public defender, he said the court should not give him a life sentence because of his age, history of mental illness and childhood trauma, and to show that no one is defined by their worst moments.
According to WTVR, the charges will run concurrent with each other, and consecutive to the one account related to Heyer’s death.
Fields was convicted of first-degree murder, among other charges, in addition to the hate crime charges. He will be sentenced on the additional charges July 15.
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