WASHINGTON — The man who attacked Minnesota congresswoman Angie Craig inside her Washington, D.C. apartment earlier this year was sentenced to more than two years in prison Thursday by a federal judge.
Kendrid Hamlin, 27, was arrested in February after he assaulted Craig (D-MN) in the elevator of her building near H Street in Northeast DC. Police say Hamlin was displaying erratic behavior at the time and began doing push-ups in the elevator before punching the congresswoman in the face and grabbing her neck. Craig told KARE 11 following the incident that she was eventually able to escape by throwing her coffee at him.
"He wasn't going to let me out of that elevator if I hadn't fought my way out," Craig shared.
Hamlin was eventually identified as the attacker and charged first with attacking Craig, and then two officers during his arrest – one of whom he bit. Hamlin pleaded guilty to all counts against him in June.
Prosecutors sought 39 months in prison, citing Hamlin's previous history of assaulting officers during arrest. The defendant was represented by assistant federal public defenders Kathryn D’Adamo Guevara and Eugene Ohm, who sought a roughly time-served sentence of a year and a day. In court Thursday, Guevara highlighted the difficult circumstances Hamlin has faced, including homelessness, drug addiction and schizophrenia.
“He has struggled a tremendous amount with that illness,” Guevara said. “All he wants to do in this world is to find a way to live without experiencing that deep suffering.”
Guevara and Ohm sought placement for Hamlin in an in-patient substance abuse treatment facility, which Chief Judge James Boasberg did eventually agree to as part of the sentence. The judge said if Hamlin were to be placed in a high-security facility under Bureau of Prisons care he might not be eligible for the programs that would benefit him. Guevara said Hamlin, who has been stabbed, hit by a car and struck by a Metro train in the past, required specialized treatment.
“This case really highlights the limitations of the criminal justice system,” Guevara said.
Hamlin’s parents spoke briefly during the hearing. His mother, Harriet Hawkins, apologized to Craig and asked Boasberg to give her son the help he needed.
“Mental health is serious,” Hawkins said. “Mental health attached to substance abuse is deadly.”
Guevara read a prepared statement written by Hamlin in which he apologized as well to Craig and the officers. He spoke briefly during the hearing but was at times inaudible to members of the public gallery.
Craig said Hamlin trapped her in the elevator, then grabbed her neck, slammed her against a steel wall and punched her before she fought him off by throwing her coffee at him.
Judge Boasberg, a nominee of former President George W. Bush who took over as chief judge earlier this year, said Hamlin’s sentencing presented a difficult case. He said the trauma of the defendant's life had been “compounded by very serious and frequently unaddressed mental health issues.” But, Boasberg added, he was concerned that the assault on Craig was not an isolated incident.
“What’s really difficult here, Mr. Hamlin, is this is just the latest in a series of criminal behavior and assaultive behavior,” Boasberg said.
The judge ultimately sentenced Hamlin to 27 months in prison, to be followed by three years on supervised release. He agreed to recommend Hamlin be placed in a federal medical center where he could hopefully receive substance abuse and mental health treatment. Boasberg also ordered that Hamlin be placed in an in-patient substance abuse facility after serving his sentence and that mental health treatment be required as part of his conditions of release.
Hamlin will receive credit for time served since his arrest earlier this year.
Craig entered a statement saying she was targeted with death threats and forced to move amid public commentary about her assault in the days following the attack.
“While my physical recovery was days, my mental and emotional recovery has taken much longer and is ongoing,” she wrote.
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