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A man accused of a knife attack on New Year’s Eve in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal charges in January.Trevor Bickford of Wells, Maine, was 19 when he attacked three police officers with a machete about two hours before the new year began. According to prosecutors, Bickford was looking to carry out a jihadist attack against officers in uniform.Bickford was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Prosecutors had asked for a 50-year sentence, while the defense asked for 10 years. Under law, he faced a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison for the charges. The charges Bickford pleaded guilty to include three counts of attempted murder of government officials and three counts of assault on government officials.In February of last year, Bickford pleaded “not guilty” to expanded state charges against him.A Manhattan grand jury levied an 18-count indictment accusing Bickford of attempted murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and multiple charges of assaulting police officers, stemming from the Dec. 31, 2022, machete attack.According to court documents, one of the officers attacked was working his first day after graduating from the NYPD academy. He suffered a skull fracture and laceration to the back of his head, received more than a dozen stitches and was out of work for more than three months.Court documents say a second officer attacked continues to suffer pain from his injuries and is afraid to return to Manhattan. Court documents say the third officer attacked continues to experience migraines, degraded speech and memory and is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. He still has not been able to return to full-time duty with the NYPD and has said that “everything” in his life has changed and that the attack may end his career. All three officers told the United States Probation Office they thought Bickford should get life in prison.”The defendant in this case, motivated by violent extremist views, traveled to New York City for the sole purpose of committing acts of violence and attacked three police officers causing serious injuries,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said when Bickford pleaded guilty.
NEW YORK —
A man accused of a knife attack on New Year’s Eve in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal charges in January.
Trevor Bickford of Wells, Maine, was 19 when he attacked three police officers with a machete about two hours before the new year began. According to prosecutors, Bickford was looking to carry out a jihadist attack against officers in uniform.
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Bickford was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Prosecutors had asked for a 50-year sentence, while the defense asked for 10 years. Under law, he faced a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison for the charges.
The charges Bickford pleaded guilty to include three counts of attempted murder of government officials and three counts of assault on government officials.
In February of last year, Bickford pleaded “not guilty” to expanded state charges against him.
A Manhattan grand jury levied an 18-count indictment accusing Bickford of attempted murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and multiple charges of assaulting police officers, stemming from the Dec. 31, 2022, machete attack.
According to court documents, one of the officers attacked was working his first day after graduating from the NYPD academy. He suffered a skull fracture and laceration to the back of his head, received more than a dozen stitches and was out of work for more than three months.
Court documents say a second officer attacked continues to suffer pain from his injuries and is afraid to return to Manhattan.
Court documents say the third officer attacked continues to experience migraines, degraded speech and memory and is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. He still has not been able to return to full-time duty with the NYPD and has said that “everything” in his life has changed and that the attack may end his career.
All three officers told the United States Probation Office they thought Bickford should get life in prison.
“The defendant in this case, motivated by violent extremist views, traveled to New York City for the sole purpose of committing acts of violence and attacked three police officers causing serious injuries,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said when Bickford pleaded guilty.