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Rene Boucher, 59, (left) was sentenced Friday to 30 days in federal prison for attacking Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. (Associated Press)

The neighbor convicted of violently attacking Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul outside the senator's Kentucky home last year was sentenced Friday to 30 days in federal prison.

Rene Boucher, 59, was also ordered Friday to one year of supervised release, a $10,000 fine and 100 hours of community service, according to WBKO. He was also ordered to have no contact with the Paul family.

"No one deserves to be violently assaulted, Paul said in a statement Friday. A felony conviction with jail time is appropriate and hopefully will deter the attacker from further violence. I commend the FBI and Department of Justice for treating this violent, pre-meditated assault with the seriousness it deserves."

Paul also said he thinks Boucher should face a longer sentence: "Theoriginal 21 month sentence requested would have been the appropriate punishment."

The attack left the Republican lawmaker with six broken ribs.His recovery was complicated by fluid and blood around the lungs and recurrent pneumonia.

Boucher pleaded guilty in March to a federal charge of assaulting a member of Congress. Boucher had asked for probation.

The senator told police that the incident occurred when his neighbor came onto his property and tackled him from behind, forcing him to the ground and causing pain.

Boucher claimed he tackled Paul over agitation about piles of brush on Pauls property. Boucher also claims Paul used his lawnmower on the same day as the attack and blew some leaves onto his property, sparking his outrage.

But the senator's office pushed back against the notion the neighbors had an ongoing dispute.

There was no longstanding dispute. This description is untrue, a spokesman for Paul said. It is impossible to have a dispute when no words of disagreement were ever spoken -- neither immediately nor at any other time before the attack occurred.

Fox News Mike Emanuel, Lukas Mikelionis, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas.

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Neighbor who attacked Rand Paul sentenced to 30 days in ...

Rene Boucher, left, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for his assault on U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (Associated Press)

A neighbor convicted of violently attacking U.S. Sen. Rand Paul outside the senator's Kentucky home last year is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court Friday.

The attack left the Republican lawmaker with six broken ribs.His recovery was complicated by fluid and blood around the lungs and recurrent pneumonia.

The attack left the Republican lawmaker with six broken ribs. His recovery was complicated by fluid and blood around the lungs and recurrent pneumonia.

Rene Boucher, 59, pleaded guilty in March to a federal charge of assaulting a member of Congress. Boucher has asked for probation, but federal prosecutors indicated they will seek a 21-month prison sentence.

The senator told police that the incident occurred when his neighbor came onto his property and tackled him from behind, forcing him to the ground and causing pain.

The incident stems from Boucher being agitated about piles of brush on Pauls property. The neighbor allegedly took the matter into his own hands and paid dumpsters to haul the piles and set fire in the yard to destroy them.

Boucher also claims Paul used his lawnmower on the same day as the attack and blew some leaves onto his property, sparking his outrage.

The New York Times initially reported the attack occurred following a long-running landscaping disagreement.

But the senator's office corrected Bouchers account and the Times report in a statement this week, saying that before Paul was violently attacked from behind, he had no conversations or discussions with the attacker.

There was no longstanding dispute. This description is untrue. It is impossible to have a dispute when no words of disagreement were ever spoken -- neither immediately nor at any other time before the attack occurred, he continued.

There was no longstanding dispute. This description is untrue. It is impossible to have a dispute when no words of disagreement were ever spoken."

The attack was a pre-meditated assault that broke six of the Senator's ribs and was complicated by fluid and blood around the lung and recurrent pneumonia. Any description of this attack that implies a yard dispute justifies such violence misses the point.

Fox News Brooke Singman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lukas Mikelionis is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter@LukasMikelionis.

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Neighbor who assaulted US Sen. Rand Paul faces sentencing

Sen. Rand Paul was tackled by his neighbor, Rene Boucher, in Kentucky last November. On Friday, Boucher was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. Rand Paul was tackled by his neighbor, Rene Boucher, in Kentucky last November. On Friday, Boucher was sentenced to 30 days in prison.

The neighbor who attacked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, breaking six of his ribs, was sentenced to 30 days in prison by a federal court on Friday.

It was a November day in the city of Bowling Green when Rene Boucher, a physician, says he lost his temper over debris that had piled up near the property line between his home and Paul's. When he saw the Republican senator outside, he tackled him resulting in broken ribs and bouts of pneumonia.

Boucher was released on a $7,500 bond after spending nearly a day at the county jail, NPR's Bill Chappell reported. In March, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress.

The prosecutor told the court on Friday that the Paul family is still feeling the repercussions of the attack. Just standing in their yard makes them feel "apprehensive," the prosecutor said, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

Boucher apologized in court for his behavior. "What I did was wrong and I'm sincerely sorry for what I did," the newspaper reported that he said. "It's not something I'm proud of, I'm embarrassed and I hope (Paul) and his family will one day be able to accept my apology, if possible."

He received a 30-day sentence, in addition to a $10,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and a year of supervised release, the Bowling Green Daily News reported.

Federal prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 21 months.

U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani called the attack an "isolated incident" that was not spurred by politics, The Associated Press reported.

"I know it's a heavy burden to be a convicted felon, but I hope you can forgive yourself and go on with your life," Battani reportedly told him. "I hope the Pauls can forgive you, but ultimately, that you can forgive yourself."

Paul did not attend the sentencing.

In an emailed statement the lawmaker said:

"No one deserves to be violently assaulted. A felony conviction with jail time is appropriate and hopefully will deter the attacker from further violence. I commend the FBI and Department of Justice for treating this violent, pre-meditated assault with the seriousness it deserves."

But as for Boucher's prison sentence of 30 days, Paul said, "The original 21-month sentence requested would have been the appropriate punishment."

Continued here:
Neighbor Who Attacked Sen. Rand Paul Sentenced To 30 Days ...

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's neighbor has been sentenced to 30 days in prison for attacking him in a dispute over yard waste, and the Republican lawmaker says he's fine with that.

Rene Boucher pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress. Boucher complained that Paul stacked debris near their property line in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Paul said he hadn't spoken to Boucher for years.

Boucher said he spoke with members of the homeowner's association about his complaint, but a Paul spokesman says the senator didn't hear from the association. Paul's statement says "any description of this attack that implies a 'yard dispute' justifies such violence and misses the point."

According to the arrest warrant for Boucher, Paul suffered "small cuts to the nose and mouth area, and had trouble breathing." The attack left Paul withsix broken ribs, cuts on his face and fluid buildup in his chest. He was later diagnosed with pneumonia.

U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani called November's attack a "dispute between neighbors" and an "isolated incident," not motivated by politics. Boucher also must serve a year of supervised release. Federal prosecutors sought 21 months, but a statement from Paul calls 30 days "appropriate."

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Sen. Rand Paul's neighbor sentenced to 30 days for ...

Rene Boucher, left, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for his assault on U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. (Daily News of Bowling Green/AP, File)

A neighbor who attacked U.S. Sen. Rand Paul at his Kentucky home last fall "lost his temper" over yard debris that Paul allegedly placed on the property line between their homes, according to documents filed in federal court last week.

The neighbor, Dr. Rene Boucher, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress in connection with the Nov. 3 confrontation and is due to be sentenced Friday. Prosecutors are seeking a 21-month prison sentence. Boucher is asking a judge to grant probation in the case.

A sentencing memorandum filed by Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said Paul repeatedly placed "unsightly" yard debris near the property line. On the day before the attack, Boucher burned some debris left by Paul, according to the document obtained by the Daily News of Bowling Green. The next day, Paul placed more debris on the spot where the pile had been burned, it said.

The filing argued that putting Boucher in prison would serve no useful purpose.

"Other than the isolated incident that is in issue, Dr. Boucher has been a pillar of his community, a solid citizen, a family man and a devout Christian," Baker wrote.

It said the disagreement over yard debris dates back to September 2017, when Paul piled a 10-foot-wide stack of limbs onto a spot near Boucher's property. The pile sat until October, when Boucher picked it up and hauled it away in portable dumpsters.

"Even though this debris was not on Dr. Boucher's property, he viewed it as unsightly as it was placed directly in his line of sight from his patio and the back door of his house," the court record said.

Two more piles of debris appeared in the same month, and Boucher burned the pile on Nov. 2. Boucher used gasoline and suffered second-degree burns that he needed treatment for, the memorandum said.

The next day, Paul used his lawnmower to blow leaves onto Boucher's yard and then made another branch pile in the same spot, it said.

"As Dr. Boucher has stated throughout, he lost his temper and tackled Rand Paul as Paul was carrying branches from another location on his property and placing them on the property line," the memorandum said.

Boucher also denied that the dispute was fueled by political differences with Paul, a Republican.

"Dr. Boucher has adamantly denied any such political motivations throughout, as even the suggestion of them is completely unfounded and simply not true," the memorandum said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Neighbor who attacked Sen. Rand Paul was upset over yard ...