Posted on 01/17/2006 10:01:16 PM PST by Rte66
OKLAHOMA CITY — Michael Fortier, the prosecution's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trials, is scheduled to be released from federal prison Friday, victims' relatives said.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has notified family members of several bombing victims of Fortier's impending release, the relatives said Tuesday. He still must serve three years of supervised release. .....
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Sure does. I'm not sure the families are thrilled by this development.
FYI
They may be divided, ambivalent, or forgiving, like some who were quoted. Of course, those may be the only two families who feel that way (forgiving), so their quotes were chosen. But you know how OKies can be.
Hope we hear from more of them.
Over here
He may still!
Technically he didn't have anything to do with it. His crime was that he learned of the plot and didn't tell anyone.
Tough call in these cases, but spending 8 years in prison and three more on parole probably is a fair sentence for someone who wasn't actually involved in the bombing plot. He's not a threat to society, just an idiot who put his loyalty to his friends above the safety of the public.
Still, I wouldn't cry over him if he had an accident, and I'm sure that if one of my kids had been in the daycare, I'd be plotting ways to get at this guy right now.
Why should he have to tell them something they already knew?
BTW, he has been in prison since August 1995. Here are some more comments from surviving victims/families in today's Daily Oklahoman (snipped):
http://newsok.com/article/1736169/
....
“I’m not pleased,” said widow Donna Hawthorne, whose husband, tire worker Thomas Hawthorne, 52, died visiting the Social Security Administration office in the federal building.
“I hope he learned in jail to have better choices,” said Hawthorne, 63, of Choctaw. “He could have saved a lot of lives but choose not to. That’s not very much time, compared to like my husband, who is dead forever.”
....
Michael Fortier has been held at an undisclosed location for the last part of his sentence. The Federal Bureau of Prisons told victims in the form letter that Fortier will be under supervision for three years after his release.
Victims were not told where Fortier intends to go upon his release. His attorney, Michael McGuire of Tulsa, also would not say.
....
Some victims called The Oklahoman to complain about his release.
“He should have gotten life in prison, like Terry Nichols did. He really should have,” said Jannie Coverdale of Oklahoma City whose grandsons, Aaron, 5, and Elijah, 2, died in the day-care center inside the federal building. “I’m just upset.”
Addendum: He is still married to his wife Lori, who has been in the witness protection program since the plea agreement.
I guess we'll see if this guy has finally gotten his priorities straight. If he meets all of his obligations with the parole, keeps his nose clean and supports himself economically, it'd be a start.
That said, he still has a heavy burden to bear for the rest of his life.
Thanks for the PING
Wonder if he knows J. Padilla?
My husband said ABC news on Sirius said that Fortier not only was being held in an undisclosed prison all this time, but he is being released into witness protection.
WHO are they protecting him from, if the only 2 people involved in OKBOMB are dead and in prison for life??
Which brings us to another comment from a victim, added to the latest version of the same AP story this morning:
"He's the luckiest man in the world," said Paul Heath, who was on the fifth floor of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building when the bomb exploded outside. "Fortier, by being willing to do a plea bargain, won the Powerball lottery of the justice system."
Are the feds going to say they are protecting Fortier from the victims and their families, and that is why he needs to be in witness protection? As my husband said, we don't protect criminals from victims, only from those they've testified against: cohorts.
I think hey may have taken a sweetheart deal as in hey we have you on charges x,y,and z unrelated to OKC you tell the jury that you were here and saw this you do a little time and we will take care of you. A lot of people with connections to this case have had accidents while in custody. Which makes you wonder who they really are covering for
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