The man who tackled Rand Paul has been sentenced - here's his punishment

The man who tackled Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from behind as he was mowing his lawn and left him with a painful injury has been sentenced.

Here's the punishment he'll serve

Rene Boucher, Paul's neighbor, was charged with felony assault of a member of Congress, and was facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On Friday he was sentenced to 30 days prison, a fine of $10,000, and 100 hours of community service.

Boucher said he was embarrassed by his actions, and explained that he tackled the senator after a dispute over piles of tree limbs near his property. He told the court that he removed piles of debris near his property line, only to see more trash appear days later. At one point he burned himself trying to get rid of the debris.

Boucher grew so angry he tackled Paul from behind as he was mowing his lawn in November 2017. Paul suffered several broken ribs because of the altercation and took several months to recover.

The U.S. government said in court that Paul did not know that his neighbor was so upset with him because he was never told about his anger.

"He's very sorry about it"

"He's lived 60 years without a hiccup," said Boucher's lawyer, "and this was unfortunately a very bad mistake to have been made. He's very sorry about it."

"I think this is a real example of how a momentary lapse in judgement, just 20 to 30 seconds of poor decision making can have such a profound impact, not only on Senator Paul, but also Dr. Boucher," he added.

Paul released a statement after the sentencing. "No one deserves to be violently assaulted," he said.

"A felony conviction with jail time is appropriate and hopefully will deter the attacker from further violence," he added. "I commend the FBI and Department of Justice for treating this violent, pre-meditated assault with the seriousness it deserves."

Here's the Associated Press news video: