ROCKVILLE, Maryland — Sophia Negroponte, 33, the adopted daughter of former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after a Montgomery County court found her guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of an acquaintance. Judge Terrence McGann sentenced her on March 7, 2026, in Montgomery County Circuit Court after a jury determined Negroponte caused the death of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen. This was a retrial after a 2023 conviction was overturned by a Maryland appellate court because the previous jury had heard controversial interrogation segments during the investigation. According to prosecutor John McCarthy, the two had known each other since high school in Washington and were drinking together at a Rockville Airbnb on the night of February 13, 2020. Two arguments occurred that night. Rasmussen left the house and then returned to retrieve his phone. Prosecutors said Negroponte stabbed him multiple times with a knife, including a blow that caused severe injury to his jugular vein, leading to his death. A 911 call around 11:16 p.m. brought police and fire crews to the scene. Rasmussen was pronounced dead at the residence. According to investigative documents, Negroponte was found inside the house with blood on her person. When arrested, she told police she did not clearly remember the attack but recalled the prior argument. Sophia Negroponte is one of five Honduran children adopted during her father's tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s. John Negroponte held many key U.S. diplomatic positions, including Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador to Iraq, and Director of National Intelligence under President George W. Bush following the events of September 11, 2001.

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