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Ian Cramer, son of North Dakota senator, sentenced to 28 years for role in deputy's death • North Dakota Monitor [1]
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Date: 2024-12-30
STANTON, N.D. — Ian Cramer, the son of North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, was sentenced to 28 years in prison on Monday for his role in the death of a Mercer County sheriff’s deputy during a high-speed chase in December 2023, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
The sentencing came months after Cramer pleaded guilty to felony charges of homicide while fleeing a peace officer, fleeing from a felony offense, preventing arrest and reckless endangerment. The homicide charge carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the others each carried up to five years in prison.
Charges were filed against Cramer after a series of incidents led him to Hazen, about 70 miles northwest of Bismarck, where he fled from police and hit speeds over 100 mph on state Highway 200, authorities said. About 3 miles outside of town, a Beulah officer deployed spike strips that flattened the two tires on the driver’s side of the Chevy Tahoe that Cramer was driving, according to the affidavit. Cramer continued on and about a half mile down the highway came upon Mercer County Deputy Paul Martin and Beulah Police Chief Frank Senn, who had deployed more tire deflation devices and taken cover behind their vehicles.
The Tahoe veered and crashed head-on into Martin’s patrol vehicle, causing Martin to be struck and launched 100 feet into the ditch.
Monday’s sentencing hearing was held before a standing-room only crowd as more than two dozen friends, family members and supporters of Martin packed the courtroom in the Mercer County Courthouse. They were joined by several members of both the Mercer and McLean County sheriff’s departments and several members of the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Many among them knew Martin personally and could be counted as the “extended family” referred to by Mercer County State’s Attorney Todd Schwarz.
Also present were Ian Cramer’s parents, Kris and U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and his sisters. The Cramers sat behind their son and defense attorney Kevin McCabe.
Prior to his sentencing recommendation, Schwarz introduced a video presentation prepared by Alex Droske, a special agent with the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
“The video is graphic,” Schwarz told South Central District Judge Bobbi Weiler. “It’s evidence that would have been introduced had this case gone to trial.”
The video, compiled of body camera and in-car footage taken from a Mercer County deputy and Martin’s patrol car, showed the minutes leading up to the crash involving the Tahoe driven by Cramer and Martin’s vehicle, and the immediate aftermath as officers tried to render aid to the injured deputy.
Martin’s widow, Mindy, left the courtroom in tears once the footage showed officers attempting to help her husband. The rest of the courtroom watched silently as audio of officers yelling for fire and rescue units, then later a helicopter, filled the room.
Following the video, Senn testified. He had responded to calls regarding the pursuit and was parked on the south side of Highway 200, across the road from Martin’s patrol vehicle. Both men had deployed spike strips in preparation, and Senn said he had a clear view of Martin’s vehicle when Cramer’s vehicle struck it.
Senn’s testimony indicated that Cramer, whose vehicle had been partially disabled earlier by another officer’s spike strips, deliberately swerved the Tahoe to the right, striking Martin’s patrol vehicle and ultimately Martin, causing the deputy’s death.
That testimony had McCabe questioning how Senn could have known Cramer’s actions were deliberate and not the result of the vehicle’s tires losing air pressure.
“Why can you say it was deliberate?” McCabe asked.
“Because he didn’t lose control of vehicle,” Senn replied.
“Were you in the car with him?” McCabe continued.
“No,” Senn said. “But in my experience, 30 years, 29 years of investigating accidents … if he would have lost control of that vehicle, I wouldn’t be standing in this spot right now. It would have been me that would have been killed.”
Senn testified that had the Tahoe lost pressure in its tires, it would have caused the vehicle to veer left toward his patrol vehicle and not to the right toward Martin.
He described how he immediately ran across the highway and encountered Cramer, who had managed to escape from the Tahoe, which had caught fire.
“He shot out of that vehicle like ready to run, you know? And I think he was surprised to meet me right away,” Senn said.
Senn’s testimony continued with him describing how he attempted to take Cramer into custody. Cramer, according to Senn, attempted to flee, refused to comply with commands, and struggled with the officer to the point that Senn had to utilize a leg sweep takedown and use “substantial force” to gain control of Cramer. The struggle caused him to injure his hand and shoulder, and seek medical attention, he said.
In opening remarks accompanying his sentencing recommendation, Schwarz referenced the crowd, telling judge Weiler, “There’s a lot of hurt in this room.”
Schwarz went on to say that the pain caused was solely due to choices Cramer made on Dec. 6 when he began a series of incidents that started with taking his mother’s Tahoe from the emergency entrance at Sanford Hospital in Bismarck and driving to Hazen. There he was approached by police at a gas station before leading law enforcement on the high-speed pursuit.
Those choices were potentially influenced by what he described as a “psychotic episode” fueled in part by Cramer’s history of drug addiction, according to Schwarz.
“Mr. Cramer wants to plead ‘drug addiction made me do it.’ He spent a lot of time with psychologists (and) psychiatrists about trying to find a way to avoid some of the responsibility by declaring himself mentally ill to the point he lacks criminal responsibility,” Schwarz said. “And all these doctors said ‘no.’ What they say is that he becomes psychotic when he takes methamphetamine.”
In the aftermath of Martin’s death and Cramer’s arrest, his father Sen. Cramer issued a statement saying his adopted son “suffered from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”
Schwarz said those mental conditions were the result of long-term drug abuse and offered a letter written by Dr. Miranda Rosenberg, a licensed psychologist and one of the doctors who examined Cramer while he was in custody.
“Mr. Cramer’s presentation supports a diagnosis of substance-induced psychotic disorder, amphetamine use disorder with possible alcohol use disorder and then a provisional bipolar disorder,” Schwarz read.
“So essentially, he’s taking drugs to put himself into a mentally ill state. He’s been doing it long enough that it’s having long-term effects.”
Schwarz said Cramer admitted during an interview with a BCI agent to using meth in combination with bath salts on Dec. 6.
Given the nature of Cramer’s guilty pleas, Weiler could have sent him to prison for more than 38 years.
Following Schwarz’s presentation, McCabe called Cramer’s mother, Kris, to read a prepared statement. In her remarks, Kris Cramer said she was responsible for beginning the series of incidents that culminated in deputy Martin’s death, beginning when she realized her son wasn’t acting rationally and decided to take him to Sanford Health hospital in Bismarck.
“So I just want to say I’m sorry,” she said. “I really do feel responsible for what happened on Dec. 6.”
Kris Cramer’s testimony was followed by McCabe’s sentencing recommendation. He proposed Cramer be sentenced to much less prison time, a five-year sentence that included sentences for the various offenses running at the same time, followed by three years of supervised probation.
McCabe said Cramer’s already weak mental condition was the primary factor behind the Dec. 6 incident, more so than drug abuse.
“He felt on that day that there were voices. There were voices in his head,” McCabe said.
The defense attorney continued, saying when first engaged to represent Cramer, he thought the defendant was “a jerk,” but that perception has changed.
“I find Mr. Cramer to be a very fine young man,” McCabe said. “He’s got issues, but I believe that they could be corrected.”
Speaking for himself, Ian Cramer told Weiler his actions on Dec. 6, 2023, weren’t intentional and he apologized to Martin’s family, saying, “I just hope some day they can forgive me.” He also told the judge that he felt the best thing for him was to go to a hospital to receive help.
Weiler seemed to agree with Schwarz’s assertions, telling Cramer, “If it wasn’t for you being under the influence of drugs on that night, we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
“You chose to continue going over 100 miles an hour. (I) don’t believe for a minute that you lost control of your vehicle,” she said. “In the video, it didn’t show whether you intended to kill the officer or not — that I can’t say — but to me, most likely you intended to hit that officer’s vehicle. It is in no way your mother’s blame either. You decided to take that vehicle that day. You decided to flee several miles and not pull over and do the right thing.”
Cramer, who’s been in custody at the McLean County Jail for 390 days since his arrest, will receive credit for time already served.
Following Monday’s sentencing, Sen. Cramer expressed gratitude toward law enforcement during his son’s case and also expressed his regrets for the actions by his adopted son that brought everyone together in a courtroom.
“It’s heartbreaking for all of us and for our community, the price that that officer Martin, and probably more importantly, his family, has had to pay for my son’s safety, quite honestly. And it’s not lost to me that he’s a hero,” Sen. Cramer said.
Ian Cramer has pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly crashing a vehicle into the Sanford Health emergency department’s main ambulance bay in Bismarck at the beginning of the chain of events that resulted in Martin’s death. He faces felony counts in Burleigh County of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. The charges together would carry a maximum punishment of 25 years in prison. A three-day trial is scheduled in late January.
Sanford has estimated damage to the ambulance bay at about $12,800, according to an affidavit. The theft charge is related to Cramer allegedly taking his mother’s vehicle.
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