By Steve Neavling
A man who repeatedly shot an undercover ATF agent in Spokane, Wash., during a botched robbery attempt in November 2021 was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison Thursday.
Randy James Holmes expressed remorse as the ATF agent sat in attendance with his wife and five children, The Spokesman-Review reports.
“I am horribly, horribly sorry for everything,” Holmes said.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice said there was no way Holmes knew he was shooting at an ATF agent, which reduced his prison sentence by a few years.
“This highly trained government agent did everything he could to come off as a gang member,” Holmes’ attorney, Bryan Hershman, told Rice.
Holmes believed he was making a gun purchase when the shooting occurred in the parking lot of a Motel 6, which caused serious and permanent injuries to the agent. While in the car with an undercover agent, Holmes pointed a handgun at the agent’s head, demanding the firearm.
The agent said the gun was in the back of the car.
When Holmes exited the car, the agent demanded that Holmes drop the gun, prosecutors said.
Holmes then exchanged gunfire with the agent, striking him multiple times. Holmes was shot 11 times, according to his lawyer.
Holmes pleaded guilty earlier this year.
The agent told the judge he harbors no anger toward Holmes.
“I’m not mad at him today,” the agent told Rice. “I haven’t been mad since that day. It’s over.”
The agent’s wife, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the shooting, expressed similar sentiments.
“God saved both of them,” the wife said of her husband and Holmes. “God loves both of them equally.”
Prosecutors urged the judge to impose a 24-year sentence. The judge sentenced Holmes to 249 months.
