Oklahoma bombing witness to be released from prison
By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News
January 18, 2006
The man who knew about the Oklahoma City bombing plot in advance but never warned authorities will be released from prison Friday, his lawyer confirmed today.
Attorney Michael McGuire of Tulsa said the release of Michael Fortier is right on schedule and not earlier than it is supposed to be. Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
"With his good-time credit applied to his original sentence, he's not getting anything special or a reduction," McGuire said. "This is when he should be released."
But some survivors and victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing expected Fortier to spend another year and prison and don't think he should be let go.
"I don't like it," said Marsha Kight, now of St. Augustine, Fla. "I think he should have served more time than the twelve years, and then for him to be let go short of that time, I find that troubling."
Kight, whose daughter Frankie Merrell was killed in the bombing, is on the board of the National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network, which advocates for victims' rights.
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[McGuire] said Fortier, now in his mid-30s, will be reunited with his wife and two children. The family has remained close, he said.
"I talked to him yesterday," McGuire said. "He's very eager to be re-united without the personal invasion that you have at a prison. He's just a guy who's on edge with all his emotions overflowing about being with his family, trying to move from the past and his accountability as a defendant in the case, to being a private citizen.
He said Fortier, who was working in a hardware store in Kingman, Ariz., when the bombing occurred, may get a job working with computers.
"He's a very smart person," McGuire said. "He's got a lot of potential."
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Video of angry family members at link:
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/6211864/detail.html
Did Fortier Really Pay His Debt?
Oklahoma City Bombing Conspirator To Be Released On Friday
POSTED: 9:40 am CST January 18, 2006
UPDATED: 8:30 pm CST January 18, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The news is beginning to set in on Wednesday for the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Convicted conspirator Michael Fortier will be released from prison in two days. While some victims understand his early release, others said they're stunned and angry.
"He made choices in his life that were contrary to what society says is the right thing. He's not paid for that. I don't belive he has," said Kathleen Treanor, who lost three relatives in the April 19, 1995, bombing in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
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