The man who shot and wounded Lady Gaga's dog walker and stole her French bulldogs last year has been sentenced to 21 years in state prison, the officials from Los Angeles County District Attorney reported.
The shocking incident conspired last year, and the authorities also stated that the connection with Lady Gaga was more of a coincidence, as per HollywoodReporter. The motive was the value of the French bulldogs, a breed that can run into thousands of dollars, and detectives do not believe the thieves knew the dogs belonged to the musician.
James Howard Jackson, 20, pleaded no contest of ‘attempted murder’ and “admitted the allegation of inflicting great bodily injury and to a prior strike” as part of a settlement, as was said in a statement from the DA's office.
The office further said in a statement, “The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson accountable for perpetrating a coldhearted violent act and provides justice for our victim.”
For the unaware, Lady Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischer carried on with his duties near the Sunset Boulevard on February 24, 2021 when he was attacked and shot. The attackers fled the scene and stold two of the three French bulldogs named Koji and Gustav. Later, Fischer recounted the attack as a “close call with death” in his subsequent social media posts.
His court address was also posted on Instagram. His statement reads, “It’s hard to believe that it’s nearing two years since I was taking Asia, Koji and Gustav out for an evening stroll when — in an instant — I suddenly found myself fighting with everything I had to protect those dogs from being stolen. But it wasn’t enough: I was beaten, strangled, shot and left to die bleeding out on a sidewalk and gasping for my life. And Koji and Gustav were gone.”
Lady Gaga offered a whooping $500,000 reward for the return of the dogs - "no questions asked." However, Jennifer McBride, who returned the dogs days later was also charged in the crime.
Image Source: Instagram