Lady Gaga's dognapping shooter gets sentenced to 21 years in prison
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: Lady Gaga/Twitter
A man has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison after he shot and nearly killed Lady Gaga's dog walker Ryan Fischer.
A Los Angeles court heard how James Howard Jackson shot at Fischer and abducted French bulldogs Koji and Gustav.
Gaga's other bulldog, named Miss Asia, ran away and was recovered by police.
The group of five dognappers only returned her beloved pets when Gaga - real name Stefani Germanotta - offered up half a million dollars.
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The person who returned the two dogs, Jennifer McBride, 50, was also arrested in connection to the crime.
In court, the dog walker said the shooting was an 'earth-shattering event' that came close to killing him.
Fischer revealed he suffered 'lung collapse after lung collapse', had to get physical therapy and deal with the 'loss of career, friendships, aimlessly traveling the country' as his bills piled up.
Despite the dog walker's struggles, he told Jackson that he forgives him.
"I do forgive you. With the attack, you completely altered my life. I know I can’t completely move on from the night you shot me until I said those words to you," Fischer told Jackson, as per Rolling Stone.
Fischer then thanked the dognapper for not harming the animals.
He said: "They were returned and returned to their mom. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they died."
Gaga previously said that the theft had made her heart 'sick' and that Fischer was a 'hero'.
Police have said they were not aware that Fischer was working for Lady Gaga when they carried out the attack and robbery.
They say evidence suggests they knew the 'great value of the breed of dogs'.
Fischer explained to the court what happened on that fateful day.
"They pointed down to the dogs, that they wanted the dogs, and I said, 'No'," he recalled.
"And I started to scream for help and tried to fight back," he said, according to a transcript obtained by Rolling Stone.
The dog walker went on that he was thrown against concrete embankment and was choked before he bashed him over the head with a bottle of champagne he had bought at a nearby store.
Fischer then broke free and tried to lunge for Koji.
"The dog screamed at me, and I reached for him, and then the guy, the man with the gun shot me as I was reaching,” Fischer testified, saying he collapsed on the ground as his assailants sped away.
"I immediately tried to call for help but realised I was bleeding out of my lung and that I was losing more and more air quickly."
Fischer survived the attack but had to have part of his lung removed.
James Howard Jackson was sentenced to 21 years in jail.