Global Courant 2023-06-01 04:27:28
A federal judge in Alabama has sentenced the man who admits to spearheading a plan to burn down Walmart stores along the Gulf Coast to 18 years in prison — double the recommended sentence.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence for Jeffery Sikes, which was the high end of the sentencing directive. But U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer said Tuesday he believes those guidelines don’t capture the full extent of the defendant’s criminal conduct, WALA-TV reported.
“This directive, as applied, is, in my opinion, woefully inadequate for the crime,” the judge said.
KANSAS FIREFIGHTERS FIND MAN ON FIRE INSIDE WALMART TOILET
In addition, Moorer ordered Sikes and his co-conspirators to pay nearly $7.3 million to Walmart in compensation for the damage sustained in the store fires in Alabama and Mississippi. After serving his prison sentence, Sikes is placed on three years’ probation.
Other people involved in the fires will be sentenced later.
Sikes pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to maliciously destroy by fire. He admitted to spearheading the creation of a document called the “Declaration of War and Demands to the People.” Several local media organizations received the manifesto, which outlined grievances against Walmart regarding pay, benefits and working conditions and threatened continued arson attacks if demands were not met.
Sikes told the judge he deserves whatever punishment he gets, but he urged Moorer to spare his co-defendants.
“These guys had nothing to do with it,” he said. “Frankly, they fought me on it. … I was the brains. I was the leader. I take full responsibility.”
Moorer said he was glad to hear Sikes say what he did.
A Walmart store in Queensbury, New York. Jeffrey Sikes was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a federal judge for masterminding arson attacks at multiple Walmart locations along the Gulf Coast. (Google Maps)
“But I don’t really give you credit for that, since what you just said is just the truth,” he said.
The judge cited a long list of factors that led to his conclusion that this case fell outside the “core area” of the guidelines. He found that there was not one fire, but four. Moorer also said the defendant’s text messages show “harsh disregard for what you were doing the moment you did it”.
In addition, the judge said the guidelines do not adequately reflect the defendant’s political motivation, his participation in shoplifting to raise money or his attempt to “intimidate the media” into publishing his manifesto.
ALABAMA EX-WALMART EMPLOYEE CHARGED FOR 53 CHARGES AFTER PROBABLY TAKING 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN BATHROOM
Sikes is described as a federal fugitive who disappeared from Kearney, Nebraska, before a wire fraud hearing in 2018. He used the alias Kenneth Allen while living in Gulf Shores, Alabama. According to the indictment, Sean Bottorff, Sikes’ brother-in-law, also disappeared from Kearney at the same time, along with his wife and an unrelated adult woman who pleaded conspiracy charges last year.
Defense attorney Tom Walsh said outside the courthouse that despite the higher sentence, there are still issues that could be raised on appeal.
“It’s certainly disappointing,” he said of the judge’s decision.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
At some point, Sikes will be sent back to Nebraska to face the fraud conviction that led him to flee in 2018. Walsh said his client will most likely have to serve that sentence after the one in Mobile.
