BORN: 1968 Sentenced to 12 years in prison on May 27, 1998.
Released on January 26, 2006 after serving 10+years.
Biography
Michael Joseph Fortier was born in Maine in 1968, then moved with his family to Kingman, Arizona at age seven. After graduating from Kingman High, Fortier entered the army, where he met Timothy McVeigh at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1988. The company, which also included Terry Nichols, moved on to Fort Riley, Kansas, where Fortier served until his honorable discharge in May 1991.Fortier shared a common interests with his friends McVeigh and Nichols. All considered themselves marksmen and all had contempt for the federal government. At McVeigh's urging, Fortier read The Turner Diaries, a book seen as inciting violent action against an overreaching federal government.After his stint in the service, Fortier returned to Kingman where he enrolled in Mohave Community College and worked part-time in a printing shop and a hardware store. He was known locally for his participation in gun control protests.On July 25, 1994, Fortier married his high school sweetheart, Lori, in a Las Vegas casino. McVeigh was his best man. At the time of McVeigh's trial in 1997, the couple had two children, a four-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. The Fortiers hosted McVeigh at their Kingman mobile home several times from 1993 to early 1995. Outside the home, Fortier flew a flag depicting a coiled snake and bearing the words, "DON'T TREAD ON ME." Fortier, a heavy drug user, introduced McVeigh to marijuana and crystal meth. The two would share stories on drug highs as they laid on their backs and gazed into the night sky. On other occasions, they vented their anger about gun control, "the New World Order," or the ambitious plans of the United Nations. In the Arizona desert, McVeigh proudly detonated his increasingly sophisticated homemade bombs for the entertainment of the Fortiers.In the Fortier's living room in October 1995, McVeigh laid out his plans to bomb "a federal building in Oklahoma City." He drew a diagram showing how he planned to put together his bomb. Later, when McVeigh tried to recruit Fortier to aid in mixing the bomb's components or help station a getaway car, Fortier refused.After the April 19, 1995, explosion, Fortier lied to FBI investigators, telling them he knew nothing about the bombing. He told friends, however, that he hoped to get "a cool mil" selling book and movie rights to his story and, that if ever called to testify in the case, "I will...pick my nose...and wipe it on the judge's desk." Within weeks, his tune changed. Fortier pled guilty and testified in criminal trials against McVeigh and Nichols. McVeigh claimed to bear no ill against his old friend for his decision to turn government witness, and even confessed to feeling guilty for the effects the bombing--which he considered his own action--had on Fortier.Statement (8-10-1995)(entered as part of his plea agreement)
"On December 15th and 16th I rode with Tim McVeigh from my home in Kingman, AZ to Kansas. There I was to receive weapons that Tim McVeigh told me had been stolen by Terry Nichols and himself. While in Kansas, McVeigh and I loaded about twenty-five weapons into a car that I had rented. On December 17th, 1994, I drove the rental car back to Arizona through Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. Later, after returning to Arizona and at the request of Tim McVeigh, I sold some of the weapons and again at the request of Tim McVeigh I gave him some money to give to Terry Nichols. "Prior to April 1995, McVeigh told me about the plans that he and Terry Nichols had to blow up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I did not as soon as possible make known my knowledge of the McVeigh and Nichols plot to any judge or other persons in civil authority. When F.B.I. agents questioned me later, about two days after the bombing, and during the next three days, I lied about my knowledge and concealed information. For example, I falsely stated that I had no knowledge of plans to bomb the federal building. "I also gave certain items that I had received from McVeigh, including a bag or ammonium nitrate fertilizer, to a neighbor of mine so the items would not be found by law enforcement officers in a search of my residence." - --
Released on January 26, 2006 after serving 10+years.
Biography
Michael Joseph Fortier was born in Maine in 1968, then moved with his family to Kingman, Arizona at age seven. After graduating from Kingman High, Fortier entered the army, where he met Timothy McVeigh at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1988. The company, which also included Terry Nichols, moved on to Fort Riley, Kansas, where Fortier served until his honorable discharge in May 1991.Fortier shared a common interests with his friends McVeigh and Nichols. All considered themselves marksmen and all had contempt for the federal government. At McVeigh's urging, Fortier read The Turner Diaries, a book seen as inciting violent action against an overreaching federal government.After his stint in the service, Fortier returned to Kingman where he enrolled in Mohave Community College and worked part-time in a printing shop and a hardware store. He was known locally for his participation in gun control protests.On July 25, 1994, Fortier married his high school sweetheart, Lori, in a Las Vegas casino. McVeigh was his best man. At the time of McVeigh's trial in 1997, the couple had two children, a four-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. The Fortiers hosted McVeigh at their Kingman mobile home several times from 1993 to early 1995. Outside the home, Fortier flew a flag depicting a coiled snake and bearing the words, "DON'T TREAD ON ME." Fortier, a heavy drug user, introduced McVeigh to marijuana and crystal meth. The two would share stories on drug highs as they laid on their backs and gazed into the night sky. On other occasions, they vented their anger about gun control, "the New World Order," or the ambitious plans of the United Nations. In the Arizona desert, McVeigh proudly detonated his increasingly sophisticated homemade bombs for the entertainment of the Fortiers.In the Fortier's living room in October 1995, McVeigh laid out his plans to bomb "a federal building in Oklahoma City." He drew a diagram showing how he planned to put together his bomb. Later, when McVeigh tried to recruit Fortier to aid in mixing the bomb's components or help station a getaway car, Fortier refused.After the April 19, 1995, explosion, Fortier lied to FBI investigators, telling them he knew nothing about the bombing. He told friends, however, that he hoped to get "a cool mil" selling book and movie rights to his story and, that if ever called to testify in the case, "I will...pick my nose...and wipe it on the judge's desk." Within weeks, his tune changed. Fortier pled guilty and testified in criminal trials against McVeigh and Nichols. McVeigh claimed to bear no ill against his old friend for his decision to turn government witness, and even confessed to feeling guilty for the effects the bombing--which he considered his own action--had on Fortier.Statement (8-10-1995)(entered as part of his plea agreement)
"On December 15th and 16th I rode with Tim McVeigh from my home in Kingman, AZ to Kansas. There I was to receive weapons that Tim McVeigh told me had been stolen by Terry Nichols and himself. While in Kansas, McVeigh and I loaded about twenty-five weapons into a car that I had rented. On December 17th, 1994, I drove the rental car back to Arizona through Oklahoma and Oklahoma City. Later, after returning to Arizona and at the request of Tim McVeigh, I sold some of the weapons and again at the request of Tim McVeigh I gave him some money to give to Terry Nichols. "Prior to April 1995, McVeigh told me about the plans that he and Terry Nichols had to blow up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I did not as soon as possible make known my knowledge of the McVeigh and Nichols plot to any judge or other persons in civil authority. When F.B.I. agents questioned me later, about two days after the bombing, and during the next three days, I lied about my knowledge and concealed information. For example, I falsely stated that I had no knowledge of plans to bomb the federal building. "I also gave certain items that I had received from McVeigh, including a bag or ammonium nitrate fertilizer, to a neighbor of mine so the items would not be found by law enforcement officers in a search of my residence." - --
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