A pro-life advocate found guilty of illegally blockading an abortion clinic was sentenced Tuesday to more than 4½ years in federal prison, Newsmax's Logan Ratick reported.
Lauren Handy was convicted by a Washington, D.C., federal jury on Aug. 29, of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), a 1994 law that prohibits threats to and obstruction of a person seeking reproductive health services or providers.
U.S. Senior District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Handy to 57 months, though she will get credit for roughly nine months time served.
Handy and her co-defendants faced a potential sentence of up to 11 years.
The Justice Department, in an April 12 filing, had recommended Handy serve up to 6½ years in federal prison, WUSA 9 reported. Prosecutors said she was the leader of the group.
The Justice Department pursued charges against Handy and her co-defendants, who have been committed to nonviolence, despite not prosecuting demonstrators who protested the George Floyd killing by firebombing police stations and vehicles.
Thomas More Society lawyers Steve Crampton and Martin Cannon defended Handy, who's from Alexandria, Virginia.
"Ms. Handy has been condemned for her efforts to protect the lives of innocent preborn human beings," Cannon said after Handy's conviction. "We are preparing an appeal and will continue to defend those who fight for life against a Biden Department of Justice that seems intent on prosecuting those who decry abortion and present it as it is — the intentional killing of children in utero."
Handy and four other activists participated in a rescue and protest at the abortion facility of late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo on Oct. 22, 2020.
Federal prosecutors allege the defendants violated federal law when they used chains, bike locks, and ropes to blockade the Washington Surgi-Clinic, The Washington Post reported.
The pro-life advocates also passed literature and counseled abortion-minded women.
Handy's co-defendants also were found guilty: John Hinshaw of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman of Bronx, New York; and Herb Geraghty of Pittsburgh.