Kentucky man says he will plead guilty to assaulting Sen. Rand Paul

INDIANAPOLIS -- The man accused of assaulting Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at his Bowling Green home last November has agreed to plead guilty, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced Friday.

Rene A. Boucher, 58, was charged with assaulting a member of congress resulting in personal injury after he tackled Paul on Nov. 3, 2017. Boucher told federal investigators that he and Paul had been neighbors for years, and the he’d “had enough” after seeing Paul stacking brush onto a pile near his property.

Paul suffered five broken ribs in the attack and later had to be re-hospitalized when he contracted pneumonia.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana was assigned as special prosecutor in the case following the recusal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.

In a plea agreement filed Friday, Boucher acknowledged that he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to ask for a sentence of 21 months in prison.

Federal officials said a sentencing date for Boucher has not yet been set.