Prosecutors seek life sentence in Charlottesville car attack

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — To federal prosecutors, James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio is a callous, hate-filled young man who saw a group of people protesting against white nationalists and decided to kill them.

But to Fields' lawyers, he is a troubled 22-year-old with a history of mental illness who deserves some measure of leniency.

A federal judge will decide later today whether Fields should get life in prison or a sentence of something less than that for killing anti-racism protester Heather Heyer and injuring more than two dozen others in 2017 when he deliberately drove his car into the crowd that had gathered to demonstrate against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The case stirred racial tensions around the country.

Fields was charged with 29 hate crime counts and one count of "racially motivated violent interference." He pleaded guilty to 29 of the counts. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors and Fields' lawyers agreed that federal sentencing guidelines call for a life sentence. But in a sentencing memo filed in court last week, Fields' lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski to consider a sentence of "less than life."

"No amount of punishment imposed on James can repair the damage he caused to dozens of innocent people. But this Court should find that retribution has limits," his attorneys wrote.

Fields has almost no hope of getting out of prison in any case: He also faces sentencing in state court on July 15. A jury has recommended life plus 419 years.

Brian Levin, who directs the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said he believes there is little chance the federal judge will give Fields anything less than life.

"The bottom line is this is a historically significant act of violence that the government has an obligation to condemn through the strongest punishment possible, and I think the judge is very conscious of the facts and the significance surrounding this terrible case of domestic terrorism," Levin said.

Fields drove from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to attend the "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12, 2017, which drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.