The Club Q mass shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, has pleaded guilty to killing five and injuring 19 in a 2022 shooting spree at the LGBTQ nightclub. He was subsequently sentenced to more than 2,000 years in prison. Is this the longest prison sentence ever? The answer is a bit more nuanced than a simple yes or no.
While sentencing guidelines vary depending on the crime, a life sentence typically hovers around 80 years. Per CNN, Aldrich was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences, which means they can’t be served concurrently, and an additional 2,208 years for every attempted murder charge. On top of that, Aldrich got four years for hate charges.
Is this the longest sentence ever? Kind of. Back in 2020, Colorado became the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty – a punishment that would seem to fit the crime in this case. Possibly in order to send a message, the judge in the trial stacked his charges so that Aldrich will never get out of jail ever.
In order to make sure this is the case, Judge Michael McHenry sentenced Aldrich to those years without the possibility of parole. Aldrich will certainly die in jail before even one life sentence is completed, and that’s all the families of the victims can hope for.
In the courtroom, per The New York Times, relatives spoke at a microphone and shared memories of their lost loved one. They called Aldrich a bigot, a coward and an animal. Aldrich now goes by they/them pronouns, but the victims refused to use that designation, with one mother calling it a “repugnant attempt” at pity.
In court, Aldrich pleaded guilty and responded affirmatively when asked about understanding the charges. Aldrich stopped short of apologizing, and Aldrich’s lawyer relayed supposed remorse himself, saying Aldrich was “deeply sorry for all the people they killed, the lives they impacted.”
The United States Attorney’s office in Denver said it could still go after Aldrich for federal hate-crime charges, and because it’s a federal case, the death penalty is still on the table.
