James Howard Jackson strikes plea deal shooting dog walker

James Howard Jackson appears in an April 27, 2021 mugshot released by the US Marshals Service. Lady Gaga was photographed in Washington, DC on January 20, 2021.

The man who stole Lady Gaga’s dogs and shot their dog walker in the robbery has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office James Howard Jackson, 19, accepted a plea to 21 years in prison for attempted murder. The defendant did not contest the charges arising from the theft in February 2021.

The high-profile target in the case was accidental, authorities said. But the incident resulted in the pop star briefly losing her three beloved French bulldogs — and a furious search for those responsible.

Jackson was one of five people involved in the pooch kidnapping. On the day in question, he and two other people drove throughout Los Angeles County through the Hollywood neighborhood, the separate city of West Hollywood, and the relatively distant San Fernando Valley. The trio were “looking for French bulldogs,” prosecutors have previously claimed, because the breed can fetch thousands of dollars per dog. On their hunt they found Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischerwho was hit, choked and shot.

“Oh dear God! I was shot!” Fischer said after being robbed and shot by Jackson in audio captured by a nearby doorbell camera just off Sunset Boulevard. “Help me! I’m bleeding from my chest!”

The dogs koji and Gustav was stolen. the third dog AsiaHe escaped and went to Fischer to comfort him after the attack.

The dog sitter suffered serious injuries but survived.

Jaylin White20 and Lafayette-Whaley, 27, is believed to have been in the car with Jackson during the dognapping incident. Each of the two alleged accomplices was also charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted murder.

Jackson was also charged with assault with a semi-automatic firearm and a criminal carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. White was also charged with an assault involving violence that would likely result in serious bodily harm.

Two other people were subsequently implicated as accomplices: Harold Weiss41 and Jennifer McBride, 51. The elder White is the father of the younger White. Police eventually discovered McBride was in a relationship with the older man – after she returned the dogs to the LAPD Olympic Station to try to collect the reward money.

The four men allegedly involved are known to be “documented Los Angeles gang members,” police also claimed.

“This was a brazen street crime in which a man was seriously injured,” the Los Angeles District Attorney said George Gascon said at the time of the indictment April 2021. “We have filed very serious charges in this case and trust that justice will be properly served as this case progresses in court.”

The case against Jackson hit an embarrassing snag in April this year when the defendant was accidentally released from prison over what City of Angels authorities described as a “scribal error.” After a federal manhunt, he was arrested again in August 2022 in nearby Palmdale.

“The plea agreement holds Mr. Jackson responsible for committing a callous act of violence and provides justice for our victim,” prosecutors said in a statement obtained by West Coast CW flagship KTLA.

The younger white man previously pleaded no charges on second-degree robbery and received a four-year sentence.

Corresponding Rolling StoneFischer spoke to Jackson shortly before his sentencing and opened up about his trauma – but ultimately forgave him.

“You shot me and left me to die and our lives changed forever,” the dog walker said. “I forgive you. You completely changed my life with that attack. I know I can’t move on from the night you shot me until I said those words to you.”

Fischer also thanked Jackson for protecting the dogs during their time away from their owner.

“They were brought back and taken back to their mother,” he said. “I don’t think I could have lived with me if they had died.”

[images: Jackson via the U.S. Marshals Service; Lady Gaga by Saul Loeb/Pool/Getty Images]

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