UP TO 5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CYBERSTALKER
PROVO, UTAH» A man who posted a Facebook message threatening to kill “as many girls as I see” in retaliation for years of romantic rejection was sentenced Thursday to up to five years in prison.
Judge Christine Johnson’s decision to keep Christopher W. Cleary, 27, of Denver, behind bars in Utah went against a recommendation from Cleary’s attorney and prosecutors to sentence him to probation so he could be returned to Colorado to serve prison time there for probation violations.
Johnson said the incident clearly warranted prison time and that she didn’t feel comfortable relying on Colorado to keep Cleary locked up. She said Utah’s board of pardons can decide if Cleary should be transferred to Colorado.
Cleary’s Facebook threat came hours before women marched through many U.S. cities in January, stoking fears of another deadly rampage by a man blaming women for his problems. Cleary called himself a virgin who never had a girlfriend. When police tracked his cellphone and arrested him at a McDonald’s restaurant in Provo, Cleary said he had been upset and wasn’t thinking clearly.
Cleary spoke only briefly at the sentencing, saying quietly, “I’m just sorry for what happened.”
BP fined $68,000 for byproduct spills in Colorado.
DURANGO» BP America Production Co. has been fined $68,000 for three spills of an oil and gas byproduct in southwestern Colorado.
The Durango Herald reported Wednesday that BP has agreed to spend about $12.5 million by 2022 to repair or replace 17 miles of pipelines in La Plata County.
State records show cracked pipelines caused water and other substances to be released in the county in April 2018, November 2018 and April 2019.
A BP attorney told the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this week that pipelines are cracking from the stress of ground movement.
BP did not immediately respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment Wednesday.
Police investigate death of woman pulled from river. FORT COLLINS»
Police are investigating the case of a woman who died 15 hours after she was pulled from a river.
The Coloradoan reports the woman, who has not been identified, was unresponsive and bystanders were performing CPR when police and rescue personnel arrived at the scene along the Big Thompson River near Estes Park around 7 p.m. Monday.
Officials say the woman was transported to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland but died about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Investigators say they are still working to determine how and why the woman was in the river.
The coroner’s office says it will release the woman’s name and the cause of her death at a later date.
Man freed from state prison facing federal charges. GRAND JUNCTION»
A Colorado man freed from prison early after being sentenced to more than 300 years for child sex assault is now facing federal charges.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 47-year-old Michael McFadden appeared in federal court in Grand Junction on Wednesday after being indicted for allegedly taking children across state lines to engage in sexual acts.
The case is sealed. The truck driver was convicted in state court in Grand Junction in 2015 but was released from prison last year after an appeals court ruled that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.
The office of Grand Junction-based district attorney Dan Rubinstein told The Daily Sentinel he reached out to federal prosecutors for their help after McFadden’s release.
Record year for Utah ski resorts thanks to snowy winter. SALT LAKE CITY»
Utah ski resorts set a record for visitors this winter thanks to heavy and consistent snowfall.
A news release Tuesday from Ski Utah showed the 5.1 million skier days marked a major rebound from the previous winter, when the state registered 4.1 million during a down year for snowfall.
The industry association says this winter’s figure surpasses the record of nearly 4.6 million skier days set during the 2016-17 ski season.
Utah’s big year mirrors a banner season for ski resorts around the country.
The National Ski Areas Association’s says the 59 million skier visits nationally are the fourth-most since 1978. The 24 million visits to ski resorts in the Rocky Mountain region that includes Utah and Colorado and other states were the most in that time span.