A Canadian was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for fire in a southern Dakota and an electrical substation in the North Dakota which caused $ 1.7 million in damages after a judge concluded that his crimes encountered the definition of terrorism.
Cameron Smith, 50, was also sentenced on Monday to pay more than $ 2.1 million in restitutionreported the Bismarck Tribune, as well as fines totaling $ 250,000. He faces the deportation after his release.
Smith, who is from the Toronto region but who lived in Astoria, Oregon, pleaded guilty last September for destroying energy facilities for incidents near Carpenter, southern Dakota, 2022 and 2023 near Ray, Dakota from the North.
US district judge Daniel Traynor condemned Smith to two consecutive mandates of 12 years and 6 months, well above the federal guidelines for determining the sentence that recommended 3 and a half years to 4 years and 3 months per count.
Prosecutor David Hagler said that the higher sentence was justified because Smith’s actions responded to the definition of terrorism by “trying to intimidate or forced a civilian population”.
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Defense lawyer, Douglas Passon, argued against the longer penalty, describing Smith as a “hyper-conscious individual wishing to raise awareness of climate change” which intentionally avoided harming anyone.
In the southern Dakota incident, the prosecutors said that the damage inflicted by Smith caused a pumping station on the Keystone XL pipeline, which led to a leak that damaged the neighboring land. The damages of transformers and other infrastructure in an electrical substation of the Northern Dakota caused breakdowns to 243 customers.
Smith told court that his actions had been motivated by frustration after years trying to raise awareness of climate change by legal means. He said that he had chosen distant places to avoid harming people, and he pleaded for a lesser sentence, citing his autism and Crohn’s disease.
“This is equivalent to a perpetuity sentence, and I don’t think it’s true,” said Smith. He expressed his doubt that he would receive adequate medical care when he was incarcerated.
“I will not survive that,” said Smith.
Traynor was not influenced. “You have ignored the rule of law in the United States and carried out your actions in a terrorist manner,” said Traynor. “You have not engaged in this driving on a whim. You have committed two distinct attacks on critical infrastructure 10 months apart and traveled a long distance to do so. »»
Smith’s lawyer said they would call. He said that the sentence was unfair given the medical and mental conditions of Smith and disproportionate to similar crimes.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press