(Ken Silva, Headline USA) GREENSBORO, NC—The man who sold the rifle that Ryan Routh used in his September 2024 attempt on Donald Trump’s life has avoided jail time. On Thursday, Judge Catherine Eagles ordered Ronnie Jay Oxendine to serve two years of supervised probation and pay a $7,500 fine instead.
Oxendine’s sentence was much more lenient than that of Tina Brown Cooper, who put Routh in touch with Oxendine. Cooper was sentenced to 21 months in prison earlier this month. Neither of them knew what Routh was planning.
Even though Oxendine’s crime was more severe than Cooper’s, he received a lesser sentence because he cooperated with government and served as a key witness who helped convict Routh last month. Cooper, by contrast, sought to cover up her crime after she saw what Routh did in the news, telling Oxendine to “not admit to anything.” When Cooper was interviewed by FBI agents, she initially denied concealing her links to Routh until agents showed her the text messages from her phone.
These text messages show that Routh's co-conspirators were very worried after he tried killing Trump.
It doesn't appear they knew what Routh was planning. pic.twitter.com/b0gk82yVXx— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) July 8, 2025
In fact, because he cooperated with the FBI, Oxendine wasn’t even charged with the crime of selling the rifle to Routh, who was a known convicted felon. Instead, he was charged with having a sawed-off shotgun, which he provided to the FBI when agents visited his property.
On Thursday, Oxendine’s lawyer, Alan Doorasamy Jr., said the FBI didn’t even need a search warrant to find the sawed-off shotgun. Oxendine seems to have called the FBI himself when he heard about Routh’s crime (Cooper told this reporter earlier this month that he ratted on her). And when agents visited his 40-acre farm, he showed them his collection of some 300 guns stored in his safe.
The sawed-off shotgun wasn’t among the collection. Oxendine kept it in a shed away from his house. Doorasamy said the FBI wouldn’t have found the shotgun if he didn’t provide it voluntarily. Doorasamy also said Oxendine only obtained the gun because one of his renters left it on his property. Oxendine kept it in his shed to guard his farm against wild animals, his lawyer said.
The defense attorney added that his client is a “man of integrity.” He said he normally doesn’t socialize with clients, but he had lunch and dinner every day while they were in Florida to participate in Routh’s trial.
During his time with his client, Doorasamy said he learned that Oxendine is a Lumbee Indian whose father moved him to a farm because he suffered discrimination in the city when growing up.
BREAKING: Oxendine, who sold Ryan Routh his rifle, has avoided jail–receiving 2-years probation instead.
By contrast, Tina Cooper, who merely introduced Routh to Oxendine, was sentenced to 21 months.
This is because Oxendine turned state's witness.
STORY BELOW🧵 https://t.co/ruF1X9VeGO pic.twitter.com/OKpGGsKnAG— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) October 23, 2025
“He’s faced discrimination and other issues,” the lawyer said.
Federal prosecutor Eric Iverson didn’t say much, other than to agree with the defense’s request for probation. While Doorasamy wanted unsupervised probation and for the fine to be waived for his client, Iverson said supervised probation was more appropriate.
Judge Eagles agreed, also denying the request to waive the fine.
Oxendine is still in possession of his collection of 300 firearms, but isn’t in control of them, his lawyer said. They’re apparently off his property, and Doorasamy said they’re looking for an auctioneer to sell them as soon as possible.
Case History
In July 2024, Routh contacted Cooper about procuring a rifle. Routh told Cooper, who was his employee at his roofing business in the early 2000s, that the rifle was for his son, Oran Routh. Cooper did know that Routh was a felon who wasn’t allowed to possess firearms.
Cooper, who hadn’t spoken to Routh since 2022, declined to help him at first. But then she agreed to introduce him to her current boss, Oxendine.
When they all showed up to his business on Aug. 2, 2024, Oxendine was surprised to see Routh, whom he thought was living in Hawaii.
“I haven’t seen you since you tried to blow up the police station,” Oxendine told Routh—referring to a standoff he had with Greensboro police in the early 2000s (Routh had been caught with a stick of dynamite from a construction site, and Judge Schroeder said Thursday that the failed assassin’s threats against the police weren’t taken seriously).
Despite his surprise, Oxendine sold Routh an SKS-style rifle for $350 in cash. Cooper collected $100 for arranging the sale.
Later that day, Routh asked Cooper to inquire about the location of the rifle’s serial numbers so he could obliterate them.
Cooper and Oxendine were charged earlier this year. Cooper pled guilty to one count of firearms trafficking.
Routh is set to be sentenced on Dec. 18.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
