BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's neighbor is set to be sentenced in federal court for an attack last year in the lawmaker's yard.

Rene Boucher pleaded guilty in March to a federal charge of assaulting a member of Congress. Boucher says the attack was triggered by Paul stacking yard debris near his property line. Paul suffered broken ribs in the November attack.

A federal judge will sentence Boucher Friday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the two men live.

Federal prosecutors have signaled they'll seek a 21-month prison sentence, but Boucher has asked for probation.

In a statement this week, Paul dismissed the notion the men had a yard dispute. He says that "justifies such violence and misses the point."