Sister Megan Rice, 83; Michael Walli, 63; and Greg Boertje-Obed face new felony charges for breaking into Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.
Sister Megan Rice, center, 82, and Michael Walli, back waving, 63, were greeted by supporters when they arrived at Federal Court Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 in Knoxville. The third protester Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, is still in custody and was brought by authorities from the Blounty County jail. (photo: Michael Patrick/News Sentinel)
10 August 12
federal grand jury has returned a three-count indictment against three Y-12 protesters, consolidating the previous charges lodged against them and adding another felony count of "depredation" of government property, involving cutting, painting and defacing that resulted in damages exceeding $1,000.
The new charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The indictment supersedes previous complaints filed against the three defendants - Sister Megan Rice, 83; Michael Walli, 63; and Greg Boertje-Obed - and a new trial date has set for Oct. 10 in front of U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips.
The protesters, who labeled themselves the "Transform Now Plowshares," reportedly infiltrated the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in the predawn hours of July 28, eventually finding their way to the plant's highest-security area and performing various protest act - including spilling human blood on the exterior of a storage facility for bomb-uranium.
Each of the three has been involved in previous protest actions, and Walli was arrested two years ago for trespassing at Y-12 and ultimately served several months in prison on those federal charges.
A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for today, with the expectation that the federal government would present evidence to support the previous charged filed via complaints. However, the indictment is now the official charging document and no preliminary hearing is required.
Federal Magistrate Judge G. Clifford Shirley reaffirmed the release of two of the defendants - Rice and Walli - based on conditions set previously, including their promise not to enter Y-12 or any other federal facilities until this case is resolved. Both plan to reside in at a Catholic facility in Washington, D.C., and there are restrictions on their travel.
Boertjek, who is serving as his own legal counsel, previously waived his right to a detention hearing and remains in custody at the Blount County Jail.
The indictment has three separate counts: willful and malicious destruction of property; willfully committing "a depredation against property of the United States and the U.S. Department of Energy"; and trespassing or unlawful entry at the federal installation known as the Y-12 National Security Complex.
According to a sworn affidavit of Eric Dugger, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, the three apparently entered Y-12 by traversing Pine Ridge on the north end of the 811-acre plant. They were able to cross the plant's initial boundary fence on the ridge near a Y-12 patrol road and then traveled about 600 meters, crossing Bear Creek Road at one point, until they came to a series of 8-foot-high fences loaded with alarms and sensors. Collectively, those fences form the plant's electronic Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Assessment System, (PIDAS) which is supposed to alert security personnel to unauthorized entry.
The agent's affidavit was filed in federal court in Knoxville.
Dugger said they would have passed many signs warning against trespassing and unauthorized entry, including warnings of deadly force when they approached the high-security Protected Area.
The special agent said the three defendants were able to get through the first PIDAS fence by using bolt-cutters to cut the fence. Then they pried it back and crawled through the opening, he said.
"When traveling between the fences, Walli, Boertje-Obed and Rice activated alarms and sensors," Dugger said in the affidavit. At the next PIDAS security fence, they repeated the procedures and while cutting the fence, "they severed alarm wires," he said.
After doing the same thing at a third fence, they were able to enter the Protected Area and make their way to the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, which houses the nation's primary supply of weapons-grade uranium.
