‘Dougherty gang’ sentenced for multi-state crime rampage

The “Dougherty gang,” accused of carrying out a multi-state crime rampage that set off a national manhunt, was sentenced to prison in Colorado on Monday and will probably be extradited to Georgia to face more charges.

Ryan Dougherty, 22, received 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of menacing. Earlier Monday, Dougherty’s sister Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, received a 24-year prison term, and his brother Dylan Stanley-Dougherty, 27, was given 32 years, according to the Associated Press.

The charges relate to their capture Aug. 10 after a freeway chase and shootout with police in southern Colorado.

Lee Grace Dougherty, had faced up to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of menacing. Dylan Stanley-Dougherty received the maximum prison sentence for his guilty plea to one charge of first-degree assault related to the chase and shootout.

At her sentencing, Lee Grace Dougherty said she acted out of a desire to protect Ryan Dougherty, who reportedly faced a prison sentence for violating his probation in Florida, where they lived. Armed with 10 guns and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition, they fled in a Subaru, hoping to escape to Mexico, according to reports.

They were pulled over Aug. 2 during a high-speed chase in Florida, where they face a range of charges including attempted second-degree murder.

Authorities say after that confrontation, they fled to Valdosta, Ga., just over the state line from Florida. Witnesses say two men and a woman, dressed in black and wearing masks, entered a bank and fired shots into the ceiling. One carried an AK-47-type assault rifle and an automatic pistol, similar to weapons recovered after the siblings’ capture in Colorado, according to the AP.

After Monday’s sentencing in Colorado, the siblings will probably be extradited to Georgia, where they have a scheduled court hearing May 15.

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