BISMARCK — A
Canadian national
who authorities said was in the U.S. illegally has admitted to shooting an electricity substation in western North Dakota and the Keystone Pipeline in eastern South Dakota
Cameron Monte Smith, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday, Sept. 11, in North Dakota U.S. District Court to two counts of destruction of an energy facility, one each for the two states. He will be sentenced on Dec. 16 in Bismarck.
Charges of possessing a firearm and ammunition while illegally being in the U.S. will be dismissed.
Smith was federally indicted in North Dakota on July 12, 2023, for a May 13, 2023, incident at the Wheelock substation in Ray, North Dakota. Prosecutors claimed Smith shot multiple rounds from a .450 Bushmaster rifle into the substation several times.
The word “DAPL” and other symbols were spray-painted on rocks outside the power station, according to court documents. DAPL is an abbreviation for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a nearly 1,200-mile pipeline that carries oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline was the subject of mass protests in North Dakota in 2016.
No one was injured, but the bullet holes caused more than $1.2 million in damage, and 243 customers lost power, according to a criminal complaint.
The substation is owned by Mountrail-Williams Electric Co-op and Basin Electric Power Co-op. Ray is a city of roughly 740 people about 90 miles west of Minot.
Smith was arrested the next day at a hotel in Williston, about 35 miles southwest of Ray. Officers found the Bushmaster rifle, as well as 166 live rounds, in Smith’s hotel room, according to court documents.
Smith was later charged in South Dakota U.S. District Court for causing more than $495,000 in damage to the Keystone Pipeline in mid-July 2022 near Carpenter, South Dakota, or about 130 miles northwest of Sioux Falls. A plea agreement said he fired multiple rounds from a .450 Bushmaster rifle into a pump station and transformer of the pipeline.
The Keystone Pipeline carries oil from southern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. It is separate from the Keystone XL pipeline project, which was terminated after protests and years of regulatory blockades.
Authorities said there was no evidence that he entered the U.S. legally.
“Cameron Smith orchestrated and executed attacks on critical energy infrastructure in North and South Dakota using a high-powered rifle,” South Dakota U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell said in a statement. “Thanks to our partners in the District of North Dakota, the FBI, ATF, and the National Security Division, this defendant has been held to account for his criminal activity, and he will now be subject to serious time in federal prison.”
The South Dakota case was transferred to North Dakota U.S. District Court. Smith faces up to 20 years in prison.
“This defendant deliberately and very violently attacked our nation’s energy infrastructure,” North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said in a statement. “Our law enforcement partners put an end to those attacks, and this guilty plea provides a measure of accountability for the defendant’s actions and extensive damage he caused.”
April Baumgarten has been a journalist in North Dakota since 2011. She joined The Forum in February 2019 as an investigative reporter. Readers can reach her at 701-241-5417 or abaumgarten@forumcomm.com.
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Publish date : 2024-09-11 12:20:00
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