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Montana pipeline protester avoids jail, must pay restitution

By MATTHEW BROWN

Associated Press

BILLINGS — An Oregon climate change activist, who was convicted of illegally shutting down a crude oil pipeline near Big Sandy as part of a multi-state protest, avoided jail time and was ordered to pay $3,775 in restitution by a Montana judge on Tuesday.

State District Judge Daniel Boucher noted that defendant Leonard Higgins had no prior serious convictions as he handed down a three-year deferred sentence, said court clerk Rick Cook.

Higgins entered a fenced site near Big Sandy in October 2016 and closed a valve on pipeline operated by Spectra Energy,...

 

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