Sophia Negroponte, the adopted daughter of former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen inside a Maryland Airbnb. The sentence was handed down by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann after a jury convicted her of second-degree murder at a retrial in November.
The 35-year sentence matches the punishment Negroponte received following her first conviction in 2023. That conviction was later overturned by a Maryland appeals court, which ordered a new trial, The New York Post reported.
The killing occurred on February 13, 2020, at an Airbnb property in Rockville, Maryland. Police and emergency personnel responded to a 911 call at approximately 11:16 p.m. and found Negroponte covered in blood and lying on top of Rasmussen. Rasmussen was pronounced dead at the scene. Negroponte, who was 27 at the time, was taken into custody.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Negroponte and Rasmussen had been drinking with another person and argued twice that night. Rasmussen left the home at one point but returned to retrieve his cellphone.
“Negroponte then stabbed him multiple times, one a death blow that severed his jugular,” McCarthy said. Charging documents state that Negroponte told investigators she did not remember the attack but recalled arguing over what she described as a “silly issue.” She also told investigators she removed a knife from Rasmussen’s neck.
According to those documents, she told Rasmussen, “I’m sorry,” as he lay dying.
Negroponte was first convicted in 2023 and sentenced to 35 years in prison. In January 2024, a Maryland appellate court overturned the conviction, ruling that jurors had improperly heard portions of a police interrogation and testimony related to her credibility.
The court ordered a retrial, which concluded in November with a second jury again finding her guilty of second-degree murder. Judge McGann imposed the same 35-year sentence following that verdict.
“The 35-year sentence mirrors the sentence imposed following the first trial in 2023,” McCarthy said in a statement.
“This is an appropriate and just outcome in light of the seriousness of this crime and the consistent findings of two separate juries who carefully evaluated the evidence,” he said.
John Negroponte served as Director of National Intelligence under President George W. Bush beginning in 2005. He also served as deputy secretary of state and held multiple ambassador roles, including assignments to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.
Sophia Negroponte was one of five children adopted by John and Diana Negroponte during the 1980s while he was serving as U.S. ambassador to Honduras. Rasmussen was 24 years old at the time of his death.
Last week, a major nonprofit that works on public policy and was co-led by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering military strikes against Iran.
In 2008, Ambassador Mark Wallace, who worked for Bush’s brother as a UN ambassador, and Dennis Ross, a former George H.W. Bush diplomat, started United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) to fight the threats posed by the Islamic Republic.
“UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,” Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital.
“We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.”
Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the “peaceful community of nations” but were not able to finish the job.
“This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,” they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms.
“The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei,” they added.