Passenger Trains > Amtrak passenger who attempted to break into engine sentenced...

...to five years in Federal prison.

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Timothy Thomas, 32, Portland, Oregon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 60 months in prison for intentionally interfering with an on-duty Amtrak railroad conductor. 

Thomas pleaded guilty to this charge on March 3, 2022. 

On November 7, 2020, law enforcement responded to a report of an Amtrak passenger brandishing an eight-inch knife.  While en route, officers received information that the engineer stopped the train near the intersection of US-12 and Hudson Road in Monroe County, Wisconsin.  Law enforcement also learned that the subject, later identified as the Timothy Thomas, got off of the train and attempted to force his way into one of the locomotives.

(Thomas had brandished the knife and threatened to kill other passengers)

More: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwi/pr/state-oregon-man-sentenced-60-months-interfering-railroad-conductor



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/22 21:55 by GenePoon.

The crime was more that "interfering".

Too bad the perp didn't try to come after the cops with that knife, and learn the hard way not to bring a knife to a gunfight.

When I first clicked on the headline, I thought 5 years was steep assuming it was a drunk or unruly person screwing around and trying to get to the loco.  Then upon reading the article and seeing he had a weapon, that 5 years seems light.  If this had been done on an airplane, I think he would've got a lot worse.  

-Sean

Dear me. Much of the weirdness of this write-up is (I'm happy to say) not attributable to Mr Poon but to the original press release. It's kind of a jumble from the poinit of view of discourse structure, for one thing, and we don't normally use definite articles with people's names. It would have been nice to know (if anyone knows) what Mr Thomas's problem was, apart, that is, from being barking mad.

Reading between the lines, it would appear Mr Thomas may have been charged with multiple violations, and pleaded to one of them.

The incident began with a refusal to wear a mask, and threatening other passengers.

Posted from Android

Fixed: Thanks, Gene Poon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/22 18:32 by Lackawanna484.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading between the lines, it would appear Mr
> O'Shea may have been charged with multiple
> violations, and pleaded to one of them.

=============================

Mr. THOMAS.

O'Shea is the prosecuting US Attorney.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/22 16:06 by GenePoon.