Cameron Monte Smith, Destruction of Energy Facility, North Dakota 2024

BISMARCK – A Canadian man pleaded guilty to destroying an energy facility in North Dakota and another in South Dakota, resulting in over $200,000 in damages.

Cameron Monte Smith, a citizen of Canada, appeared in Federal court on September 11, 2024 in Bismarck and pleaded guilty before District Court Judge Daniel M. Traynor to one count of destruction of an energy facility charged in the District of North Dakota and one count of destruction of an energy facility charged in the District of South Dakota.

Smith is facing up to 20 years of imprisonment on each count. The defendant admitted to damaging the Wheelock Substation, located near Ray, N.D., in an amount exceeding $100,000, in May of 2023. The Wheelock substation is operated by Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

Smith also admitted to damaging a transformer and pump station of the Keystone Pipeline located near Carpenter, South Dakota, in an amount exceeding $100,000, in July of 2022.

According to authorities, Smith damaged the Wheelock substation and the Keystone Pipeline equipment by firing multiple rounds from a high-power rifle into the equipment, resulting in disruption of electric services to the North Dakota customers and resulting in disruption of the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota.

“This defendant deliberately and very violently attacked our nation’s energy infrastructure,” said U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider. “Our law enforcement partners put an end to those attacks, and this guilty plea provides a measure of accountability for the defendant’s actions and extensive damage he caused.

“Cameron Smith orchestrated and executed attacks on critical energy infrastructure in North and South Dakota using a high-powered rifle,” said U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell. “Thanks to our partners in the District of North Dakota, the FBI, ATF, and the National Security Division, this defendant has been held to account for his criminal activity, and he will now be subject to serious time in federal prison.”

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Williams County (ND) Sheriff’s Office, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Clark County (SD) Sheriff’s Department, and the Beadle County (SD) Sheriff’s Department.

Related Federal Cases