PORTLAND, Maine — The Norwegian tourist who threatened to kill Portland police officers with explosives and assault weapons last summer was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 15 months in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Espen Brungodt, 29, of Norway pleaded guilty on Sept. 26 to making threatening interstate communications, a press release said.
Brungodt on Aug. 3, 2016, sent an email to the Portland Police Department in which he threatened to kill police officers.
He was arrested without incident by federal agents and local police at an Old Port hotel where he was staying with his family, who were unaware of his threats, Portland police said in August.
In the email, Brungodt said he and his partners intended to use assault rifles to “shoot and kill as many police officers as they can” from atop a parking garage near the Portland Police Department’s Middle Street headquarters, according to The Portland Press Herald, which received the email.
The message claimed the parking garage was booby-trapped with explosives, though police checked the garage — which they closed during the investigation — and found no bombs, Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said at the time.
The nearby Cumberland County Courthouse also was closed later in the day when police learned the suspect may have been nearby.
He was not armed at the time of his arrest, police said.
In sentencing Brungodt, U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby noted that the offense was a consequence of his well-documented mental health history and took into consideration his lack of criminal history, the press release said.
As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to support any request by the defendant to transfer his sentence to Norway under the International Prisoner Transfer Agreement that exists between the United States and Norway.
If he completes his sentence here, Brungodt would be removed from the U.S. once he has served his time and denied re-entry in the future, the release said.
Brungodt faced up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
His attorney, federal public defender David Beneman, urged the judge to sentence Brungodt to six months or time served and to let him return to Norway immediately.
The federal prosecutor recommended Brungodt serve between 30 and 37 months in prison, in part, because he targeted police officers.
It could take up to a month before Brungodt is assigned and moved to a federal facility. The time he has been held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail since his arrest will be applied to the 15-month sentence.