Fortier Again Sentenced to 12 Years in Bomb Plot

OKLAHOMA CITY —  Going far beyond federal sentencing guidelines Friday, a judge for a second time gave Michael Fortier 12 years in prison for not warning authorities about the plot to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Van Bebber rejected a request by Fortier, 30, to be released after time served in light of a federal appeals court ruling in June that Van Bebber’s original 12-year sentence was invalid because he used sentencing guidelines that were too harsh. But Van Bebber resentenced Fortier to the same prison term that he first imposed in May 1988.

“The fact remains that he is culpable in the deaths that came as a result of the bombing,” Van Bebber said of Fortier.

The judge said he decided on a sentence that was more severe than called for under federal sentencing guidelines for an involuntary manslaughter conviction because of the magnitude of the April 19, 1995, bombing in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.

“Terrorism is an appropriate [reason for] upward departure,” the judge said as Fortier stood, showing no discernible emotion.

Fortier, dressed in a cream-colored shirt, brown tie, khaki slacks and brown shoes, sat expressionless through most of the morning hearing but looked over several times to his wife, who was sitting in the gallery.

Fortier’s court-appointed attorney, Michael McGuire, said his client should have been released. He has filed a notice of appeal.

McGuire said the government used Fortier as its star witness, then had him “cast aside conveniently” without giving him credit for his testimony against Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols.

McVeigh, who drove the fertilizer bomb to the federal building, was convicted on federal murder, weapon and conspiracy charges and sentenced to death. Nichols is serving a life sentence for involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy.

Fortier has been in prison since he pleaded guilty in 1995.

When his original sentence was thrown out, survivors and relatives of the victims of the blast feared he would walk away a free man. On Friday, they left the courtroom relieved. The greatest change in Fortier’s sentence was a reduction in his fine, from $200,000 to $75,000.

“Twelve years sounds pretty good this time around,” said Jannie Coverdale, who lost two grandsons in the explosion.