Two Oklahoma residents have been sentenced in federal court for a copper theft that destroyed an FM broadcast tower, causing more than $500,000 in damage and temporarily taking Payne Media Group’s K95.5 (KITX) off the air in January 2024.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Candice Marie Logan and Matthew Carl Wilson pleaded guilty in April to cutting a guy-wire at the station’s 500-foot tower near Hugo, OK, in the early morning hours of January 16, 2024, causing the top half of the structure to collapse. They then ripped out copper cabling, sawed through generator wiring, and even removed the public meter box from a nearby utility pole.
The total copper haul was worth less than $100.
The stolen copper was taken to Paris, TX, where Logan and Wilson attempted to sell it. Both were arrested and charged with transporting stolen goods across state lines, a federal offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Despite the low street value of the stolen material, the vandalism left the 50,000-watt KITX signal off-air and caused catastrophic damage to the site. Owner Will Payne described the tower as a total loss. “This is a brand new tower, we just put it up a few years ago,” he said in a video filmed at the scene.
The duo was sentenced in US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma after pleading guilty to transporting stolen goods across state lines. Logan will serve 8 months in prison, while Wilson was sentenced to 30 months.
The FCC used to treat vandalism at licensed transmitter sites as a federal offense with 2 years prison and $10000 fine. The prison sentence those two got is WAY TOO LOW. The vandals should have gotten 5 years each no parole, $10000 fines each, and restitution. Most judges are incompetent these days and the entire court system given a “castor oil” to clean out the entire system.
I wonder if they would have even been prosecuted has the stayed within OK? I think it is time that Telcos and other victims, including broadcasters start suing in civils courts.
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