A man who was so disruptive during his federal criminal case — including attacking his own defense attorney and urinating on a courtroom floor — that he was tried in absentia was sentenced Tuesday to serve the rest of his life in prison.

James Taric Byrd, 44, formerly of Pittsburgh, did not act out during his two-hour sentencing hearing on convictions for drug and weapons charges. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon warned him when the proceedings began that if he was disruptive in any way, he would be escorted out.

Byrd has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for kidnapping and aggravated assault, and a pending rape case in Allegheny County. He was facing a prison term of 25 years, but because of that history, he is considered to be a career offender in federal court, and a life sentence was available to Bissoon.

She took it.

“The defendant has demonstrated little or no regard for the law,” Bissoon said. “Life in prison is the only appropriate option. When you are not incarcerated, you commit serious crimes. While incarcerated, your egregious behavior does not abate.

“You’ve terrorized and traumatized those you’ve encountered.”

Anything less than life, Bissoon concluded, would not protect the public.

As part of her sentence, the judge ordered that Byrd serve his time in a federal prison as far from Pittsburgh as possible.

Bissoon began the hearing by recounting Byrd’s history in the federal case and what she called his “egregious behavior” throughout it.

It included him spewing vulgarities at Bissoon and his own attorneys, refusing to follow the instructions of U.S. Marshals, refusing to exit his cell and, during one hearing, urinating on the courtroom floor.

While he was hospitalized to determine if he was competent to stand trial, Bissoon said, Byrd threatened staff, made sexual advances to them and engaged in indecent exposure.

Then, during jury selection in July, Byrd “physically, violently and without warning attacked” his attorney by sucker-punching him in the head, the judge said.

He was removed from the courtroom and had to watch his own trial on a video monitor.

The jury found Byrd guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession with intent to deliver cocaine, heroin and marijuana; and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense.

While preparing for his sentencing, Byrd had a video call with defense attorney Michael DeRiso. Authorities learned in mid-January that Byrd had recorded the meeting via video from inside the jail and had the nearly hourlong meeting uploaded to YouTube.

Officials found that Byrd had uploaded at least 15 videos, including some in which he identified the alleged victim in the rape case and gave a sample opening statement.

That case was supposed to go to trial earlier this month but was postponed because of the videos.

In his sentencing brief, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Conway called Byrd “an evil person with no willingness or capacity to empathize with others.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Conway praised the woman named in the rape case for the courage she showed in testifying against Byrd during his federal trial.

While she attended the sentencing, the woman initially chose not to speak. However, after Byrd repeatedly denied having harmed her, the woman asked to address the court.

She told Bissoon that she’d known Byrd since 1998, and that he was controlling.

Byrd was incarcerated for 15 years during that time, the woman said, but he returned to the Pittsburgh area after being released from prison in Ohio.

“He came home this time worse than he went in — violence he poured out on women. I stand up here for all of the victims he has hurt. So many people are afraid of him coming home, retaliation,” she said.

“I just ask that you see through what he’s trying to do. If he gets out, he will hurt again,” she added.

Byrd, who prides himself on legal knowledge he gained in jail, argued to the court that he has not yet been convicted on the rape case and that it was inappropriate for the judge to consider those charges.

Byrd also told Bissoon he’d never threatened anyone.

The judge responded that she had listened to recorded calls between Byrd and the alleged victim while he was incarcerated. She quoted Byrd from those calls.

“‘I will definitely come home and murder you. You can tell the cops. I’m going to kill myself afterwards. I will kill you and me. You make an enemy out of me, and I’ll be your worst nightmare,’” she said, repeating his recorded comments.

Byrd responded that none of his comments were intended as threats, and that he only said them because he was angry.

He tried to argue that Bissoon should not be able to consider his convictions in Pennsylvania and Ohio courts because they are separate sovereigns and, by doing so, she was violating his rights against double jeopardy. Byrd also claimed that he had signed a “voluntary expatriation” document from the United States and wished to continue his life as a citizen of Morocco.

“I have a right to my nationality,” he said.

Bissoon ultimately denied his requests and overruled his objections.

“I always wish, Mr. Byrd, you’d use your smarts for good,” she said.

Byrd told the court that he has worked to advocate on behalf of those incarcerated in Allegheny County Jail and provided them with legal assistance, while also volunteering for charities for hurricane relief.

He argued that he should have a chance to be rehabilitated in prison so that he can someday be free again.

“I have a different perspective on my value to society,” he said. “If you want mercy, you have to show mercy.”

When Bissoon handed down Byrd’s sentence, the woman who testified against him and her supporters broke out in applause.

Byrd is among a group of plaintiffs who are suing Allegheny County Jail over the conditions of solitary confinement there. The complaint, filed in 2020, alleges that Byrd has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and PTSD.

He has been in custody at the jail since February 2015 and placed in solitary confinement dozens of times. The lawsuit also alleged that corrections officers have used force against Byrd more than 20 times.

During court on Tuesday, he was wearing a uniform from the restricted housing unit.

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