VFP Member Greg Boertje-Obed Sentenced to 62 months

Courtesy of tnplowshares

Judge Amul R. Thapar passed sentence on Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice and Michael Walli on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee. The three were convicted in May 2013 for their nonviolent action called Transform Now Plowshares at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on charges of depredation of property and sabotage—the convictions carried possible maximum sentences of 30 years in prison. Sentencing guidelines, based on factors including history, recommended sentences ranging from 6-10 years.

Sentencing began at 1:30pm; the three were permitted to be in the courtroom together by Judge Thapar.

In photo from left to right: Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed

Michael Walli received a sentence of 62 months on each count, to be served concurrently, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Greg Boertje-Obed (VFP Chapter 80 member in Duluth MN) received a sentence of 62 months on each count, to be served concurrently, followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Megan Rice received a sentence of 35 months on each count, to be served concurrently, followed by 3 years of supervised probation.

"Judge Thapar has tried to strike a compromise that reflects the nature of this nonviolent action but satisfies the government's demand that Megan, Michael and Greg's sentence send a deterrent message to the wider community. For now, their bodies remain in prison. But their voices are free, reminding us that the central issue of this action and trial have not been resolved—as long as the government continues to produce thermonuclear weapons of mass destruction in Oak Ridge or anywhere, people are required to resist," said Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.

At the hearing, each of the Plowshares resisters spoke, reminding the court of the central purpose of their action—to call the court's attention to the ongoing violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation

Treaty at the Y12 plant in Oak Ridge. In testimony at hearings leading up to the trial, former Attorney General of the United States Ramsey Clark called the production of nuclear weapons components at Y12 "unlawful," and the work there "a criminal enterprise."

Megan, Michael and Greg entered Y12 in the wee hours of the morning on July 28, 2012, cutting four fences and traversing a lethal-force-authorized zone, arriving at the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, the nation's warehouse of weapons grade highly enriched uranium. They poured blood on the walls of the HEUMF and spray painted "Plowshares Please Isaiah," and "The Fruit of Justice is Peace." They also chipped a corner of the concrete wall with a small hammer, a symbolic act reflecting the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah who said, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares."

The statement issued at the time declared the United States in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and said Y12 was chosen for the action because of plans for a multi-billion dollar bomb plant to be built there—the Uranium Processing Facility. The sole purpose of the UPF (pricetag now $19 billion) is to produce thermonuclear cores for warheads and bombs. Y12 is an active weapons production facility—workers today are performing Life Extension Upgrades on the W76 warhead at Y12.

Supporters outside the courtroom said, "The United States is breaking its own law when it builds bombs in Oak Ridge. Any goverment that would lock up Megan, Michael and Greg is desperate to hide the truth. By their actions, they have broken the silence; their sacrifice challenges each of us to speak up for a safer world. In prison or out, Michael, Greg and Megan will continue to pray and work to save the life of the planet."