Man who shot Lady Gaga’s dog walker sentenced to 21 years in prison

The man who shot and injured Lady Gaga’s dog walker during the theft of two of the singer’s French bulldogs in Hollywood last year pleaded no contest to attempted murder on Monday and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. prison.

As part of the no contest plea – the legal equivalent of a guilty plea in California – James Howard Jackson also admitted in court to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the man shot in the chest, Ryan Fischer, who survived the attack.

“The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson for perpetrating a violent and callous act and providing justice for our victim,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in announcing the settlement of the case.

Fischer attended Monday’s hearing and, according to the City of Los Angeles news service CNS, made a statement against the defendant, saying the attack forever changed his life.

Jackson was one of five suspects – four of them identified by authorities as known street gang members – arrested in connection with the attack on Gaga’s dog walker and the kidnapping of her two pets on February 24, 2021.

The two stolen bulldogs, named Koji and Gustav, were left unharmed at a police station and handed over to the artist’s representatives two days after they were kidnapped at gunpoint by two strangers in a car.

A third bulldog owned by Gaga who was walking Fischer at the time got away and was later found safe by police.

At the time, police said evidence suggested the suspects chose the three dogs because of the high value placed on the breed, but they were not believed to have known the owner’s identity prior to the theft.

Gaga, who was filming a movie in Rome when her pets were taken, made a public appeal on social media for an “act of kindness” to bring them home and offered a $500,000 reward.