Oklahoma City – The government’s star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case is looking forward to spending time with family after serving his sentence, his attorney said Wednesday.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons this week sent victims of the 1995 bombing and relatives of those killed letters informing them that Michael Fortier would be released from custody on Friday.
Fortier, who was taken into custody in August 1995, agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Good-behavior-time credits are allowing him to get out now, said his attorney, Michael McGuire.
“Essentially, he has served about 85 percent of his sentence, which was all he was supposed to serve. He got no special favors or anything like that,” McGuire said.
Fortier received three years of supervised release under federal sentencing guidelines, McGuire said.
“I think he’s in a very strong, upbeat mood to be with his family,” McGuire said.
Fortier and his wife, Lori, knew about Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols’ plot to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, an explosion that killed 168 people.
The Arizona couple testified against McVeigh, who was executed in 2001, and Nichols, who has been sentenced to life in prison in state and federal courts. Lori Fortier was granted immunity from prosecution.
