A former Marine hired by conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday after he admitted to shooting Burkman in the butt with a rifle, The Washington Post reports. Kevin Doherty was also ordered by Judge William T. Newman Jr. to pay back the $15,000 Burkman gave him for nonexistent FBI documents he claimed to possess, along with interest. Doherty reportedly concocted a “grand ruse” as retaliation after Burkman fired him last year from investigating the death of Democratic staffer Seth Rich. Burkman had claimed that Rich was killed after he gave Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, despite police concluding that Rich died in a botched robbery. According to prosecutors, Doherty contacted Burkman months after the firing—claiming to possess information “detrimental to the FBI.” Burkman then reportedly paid Doherty $15,000 for the information and arranged to pick up the documents at an Arlington hotel in March.
According to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Evie Eastman, Doherty attacked Burkman at the meetup and shot him twice in the butt with a rifle. Burkman then reportedly fled the scene carrying a “traffic cone” and his dog. According to the Post, the bullets remain lodged in the conspiracy theorist’s butt after they were deemed “too dangerous to remove.”
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