Man pleads guilty to shooting electricity and pipeline facilities

A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to charges related to shooting at energy facilities in North Dakota and South Dakota.

Cameron Monte Smith pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to two counts of destruction of an energy facility, one count in each state.

Smith faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.

Court documents show that Smith caused more than $1.2 million in damage by shooting with a high-powered rifle at the Wheelock substation near Ray in northwest North Dakota in May 2023.

The substation is operated by Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The shooting knocked out power to more than 240 people, The Bismarck Tribune has reported.

Smith caused more than $495,000 in damage to a transformer and pump station of the Keystone Pipeline in eastern South Dakota’s Clark County in July 2022, court records show. The Keystone Pipeline, operated by TC Energy, carries oil from Canada through North Dakota and South Dakota to facilities in Illinois and Texas.

“This defendant deliberately and very violently attacked our nation’s energy infrastructure,” District of North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said in a news release. “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. Our career prosecutors and colleagues in the District of South Dakota deserve credit for working cooperatively to ensure this defendant faced justice in federal court.”

Court records say the final damage estimates had not yet been determined.

Smith had also been charged with possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by an illegal alien, but those charges are expected to be dropped under a plea agreement. Smith was alleged to have possessed a .450 Bushmaster rifle and 9 millimeter Sig Sauer pistol.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16 in Bismarck.

Smith’s defense attorney did not respond to an email request for comment late Wednesday.

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