Enbridge pipe sitter headed to jail
The man who spent a day inside an Enbridge Inc. oil pipe will spend four days in a Calhoun County jail cell.
Christopher Wahmhoff, 37, of Kalamazoo will spend his four-day sentence over two weekends beginning Friday after pleading guilty to a pair of probation violations.
Wahmhoff was sentenced Monday during a hearing before Calhoun County Circuit Judge John Hallacy.
He must appear at the county jail by 6 p.m. Friday for his first two-day weekend in jail and then serve his second weekend beginning at 6 p.m. April 22.
Wahmhoff was placed on probation after being convicted of trespassing and obstructing police for refusing on June 24, 2013, to leave the inside of an Enbridge pipe under construction near Division Drive and 16-Mile Road in Fredonia Township.
In December 2014 he was convicted and given a 60-day suspended jail sentence, ordered to pay $908 in fines and placed on 12 months probation, which was extended by another 12 months.
Later he was ordered to pay $4,301.28 in restitution divided among the Marshall Fire Department, the Fredonia Township Fire Department and the Calhoun County Sheriff Department for some of their costs after spending most of the day at the site. Wahmhoff was protesting against the company that caused a million-gallon oil spill that flowed into the Kalamazoo River in July 2010.
Wahmhoff pleaded guilty to both charges Monday after probation officers alleged he had not paid any of the restitution and on Jan. 27 smoked marijuana.
A plea agreement was negotiated and his attorney, Denise Heberle of Ann Arbor, and Assistant Prosecutor Jim Jordan said they agreed to end Wahmhoff's probation in exchange for the four days in jail.
The restitution will become a civil matter and he agreed to pay $10 per month. "or what his budget can afford," Heberle said.
"This seems pretty fair to me that you serve a couple of weekends in jail," Hallacy said, warning Wahmhoff that if he fails to appear at the jail a warrant will be issued and he will be sentenced to 93 days in jail.
Contact Trace Christenson at 966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Tiwtter: @TSChristenson.
