Fortier’s Bombing Sentence Is Upheld

A federal appeals court in Denver upheld Michael Fortier’s 12-year prison term in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, rejecting arguments that the judge was vindictive and improperly exceeded the sentencing guidelines.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, said U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Van Bebber could impose a longer sentence than the guidelines called for because of the enormity of the crime, which left 168 people dead.

Fortier, 31, an Army buddy of Timothy J. McVeigh, pleaded guilty to failing to warn authorities about the plot. He admitted that he helped McVeigh move and sell stolen weapons and that he lied to FBI agents after the bombing.