Man gets 25 years for damaging energy facilities
A man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for damaging energy facilities in the Dakotas.
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USA, North Dakota / South Dakota: A Canadian man who pleaded guilty to shooting electricity and pipeline facilities in North Dakota and South Dakota was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Additionally, Cameron Monte Smith, 50, was ordered to pay over $2 M in restitution after being convicted in US District Court on two counts of destroying an energy facility.
According to court documents, Smith used a high-powered rifle to shoot at the Wheelock substation near Ray in northwest North Dakota in May 2023. The substation is operated by Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The gunfire caused a power outage affecting over 240 people.
Smith also fired a rifle at a transformer and pump station of the Keystone Pipeline in Clark County, eastern South Dakota, in July 2022, court records show. The attack caused disruptions to the pipeline, operated by TC Energy, which transports oil from Canada through North Dakota and South Dakota to facilities in Illinois and Texas.
“This sentence serves as a reminder that the Department of Justice will use all its resources to investigate and aggressively prosecute any attack on our critical civilian infrastructures,” said Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl, acting US attorney for the District of North Dakota.
Source: North Dakota Monitor
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