LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – U.S. Senator Rand Paul appeared in Elizabethtown on Monday morning to discuss economic issues. It was one of his first appearances since revealing that he spent time in the hospital this summer with complications due to surgery to repair his lung.
Senator Paul said that he's only feeling 80 or 90 percent following his latest health hurdle. The situation began nearly two years ago when he was attacked by his neighbor, Rene Boucher.
Kentucky's Republican junior senator is hoping his attacker will get more time behind bars following a recent appeals court ruling.
Boucher was initially given 30 days behind bars and ordered to pay more than $580,000 in civil damages. Prosecutors wanted 21 months behind bars.
Two weeks ago, an appeals court judge agreed that the sentence did not match the crime.
“The appeals court in Cincinnati looked at it and said, you know what, 30 days, 15 days, that's what people get for spitting on a public official, pushing a public official,” said Senator Paul. “I had six ribs broken and, you know, I'm still going through major surgery two years later. So usually the time in jail is proportional to the injuries and how, you know, was there a risk of death? Yes, I could have died multiple times from this. And so, I hope the judge, when she sees this, once again same judge, looks at it but I hope she'll be more conscious of what I've had to go through for two years.”