Two people have pleaded guilty to sabotaging a 500ft telecoms tower in Oklahoma last year.
Candice Marie Logan, 34, and Matthew Wilson, 37, pleaded guilty in federal court to toppling the tower as part of their plans to steal copper from the site.
The incident happened in January of last year. Logan and Wilson felled the 488-foot rod cell tower in Oklahoma, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage.
It led to a local radio station going off air and triggered a multi-agency investigation.
Wireless Estimator reported that the charges stem from the theft and sale of copper coaxial cable stripped from the downed broadcast tower belonging to KITX 95.5, operated by Payne Media Group.
The tower was partially felled, as a guy wire was cut to remove transmission lines quickly. Only 180 feet of the tower was left standing.
At the time, a local sheriff called for a heavy sentence to deter others.
“We’ve got to go back to sending all these crackheads to prison for a long, long time. Bury these worthless thieves in prison,” wrote Sheriff Terry Park.
Logan and Wilson reportedly cooperated with authorities after being arrested two days after the incident.
Both face a possible sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison after admitting to selling the stolen property across state lines. The copper was identified as property of KITX and valued at $45,067.
Their plea agreements include up to $250,000 in fines, mandatory restitution, forfeiture of assets linked to the crime, and waiver of appeal and post-conviction rights.
A date for sentencing has not yet been announced.
Copper theft isn't uncommon for the telecom industry, with residents in South Dallas, Texas, impacted by a two-week AT&T outage last year due to nearby copper thefts.
The value of copper has risen in the last few years, meaning that thefts of these cables have risen as a result, too.
Copper theft isn't limited to the US, with other countries also pushing for harder clampdowns on the crime, including in the UK, South Africa, and Canada.
A man in Ghana was sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing telecom cables in 2023.
