A Tucson man has been sentenced to life behind bars for the 2018 murder of U.S. Deputy Marshal Chase White, ending a legal chapter that began with a tragic shootout. Ryan Phillip Schlesinger, 31, was handed the severe penalty on Monday, but he was not present in court to face the music as his lawyers had argued for a lesser sentence, reported FOX 10 Phoenix. Schlesinger also received an additional 70 years on top of his life sentence for attempted murder and for discharging a firearm during the violent incident.
In a trial that took place last November, a jury declared Schlesinger guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Deputy White, who was gunned down outside of Schlesinger's northern Tucson home. White was part of a team attempting to serve a felony arrest warrant as the accused had been stalking a woman, who was a Tucson police sergeant, during his law enforcement career, according to a criminal complaint.
The shooting occurred in November 2018 just days before White, also an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel, was slated for deployment. The fallen marshal, who joined the service in 2015 and left behind a wife and four children, was the first deputy U.S. marshal killed on duty in Tucson since 1952. The details of his service and sacrifice were detailed in a tribute by FOX 10 Phoenix.
The fatal encounter unfolded as marshals approached Schlesinger's residence. After an hour-long standoff, where Schlesinger, armed and shielded by body armor, exchanged gunfire with officers, authorities finally managed to arrest him. While originally prosecutors sought the death penalty against him, they withdrew the demand in August 2022, allowing for the life sentence verdict to be delivered this week.
