Top Intel Chief’s Adopted Daughter Sentenced 35 Years

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Top Intel Chief’s Adopted Daughter Sentenced 35 Years

Sophia Negroponte will spend decades behind bars. A Montgomery County judge handed down a 35-year prison sentence after a retrial ended in a guilty verdict.

The attack happened at an Airbnb in Maryland in February 2020. Prosecutors say 27-year-old Negroponte stabbed 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen multiple times after a dispute while the group was drinking. Authorities say one of the wounds severed his jugular.

Police and first responders arrived after a 911 call. Court records describe finding Negroponte inside the home, covered in blood and over the victim, reportedly saying, “I’m sorry.” She was charged with second-degree murder.

She was convicted in 2023 and given a 35-year sentence. That conviction was later overturned in 2024 because an appeals court found disputed audio evidence had been improperly handled at trial. Prosecutors retried the case, and jurors again returned a guilty verdict and the same 35-year term.

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy commented on the sentence. “The 35-year sentence mirrors the sentence imposed following the first trial in 2023,” McCarthy said. He added, “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.”

Sophia is one of five Honduran children adopted by John Negroponte and his wife after he served as U.S. ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s. John Negroponte later served in a number of senior roles, including as the nation’s first director of national intelligence in 2005 under President George W. Bush, and in other diplomatic posts.

The case drew attention because of the family name and the violent facts of the crime. The victim’s family and the community have waited years for finality. With the latest sentence, prosecutors say the legal process has reached that point.

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