BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer’s adult son, who is already serving a lengthy prison term in the death of a sheriff’s deputy during a chase, was sentenced Monday to additional probation, with the judge warning it could put him back behind bars if he ever steps out of line after getting out.
Ian Cramer, 44, was sentenced last year to 28 years in prison in the December 2023 death of Mercer County Deputy Paul Martin, who had taken cover behind his patrol vehicle when Cramer crashed into it, sending Martin flying.
In February, Cramer pleaded guilty to charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment over the events that preceded the chase and fatal crash.
On Monday, state District Judge Jackson Lofgren gave Cramer a suspended prison sentence with three years of supervised probation after he is released on parole from the prison term he’s already serving. Lofgren told Cramer that if he doesn’t take his eventual probation seriously, he could be sentenced to up to 25 more years behind bars.
Cramer declined to address the court when given the chance.
Cramer’s mother took him to a hospital that on Dec. 6, 2023, because she was worried about his mental health, Bismarck police said. According to court documents, he crawled into the driver seat of his parents’ vehicle after his mother got out and then reversed through the ambulance bay’s closed garage door. He later fled from deputies when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Bismarck, authorities said.
Cramer hit speeds of over 100 mph (160 kph) and kept going even after a spiked device flattened two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were set up, and Cramer swerved and then crashed head-on into Martin’s patrol vehicle, which sent him flying and killed him.
In the case decided Monday, which covered Cramer taking his parents’ SUV and fleeing from the hospital, Burleigh County Senior Attorney Gabrielle Goter requested a 15-year prison sentence, to be served after he completes his current one, and an additional three years of supervised probation.
Cramer’s lawyer, Kevin McCabe, asked for a sentence that would run concurrently to his current one. Cramer’s mother asked the judge to give her son no additional prison time.
Kevin Cramer, a Republican, was reelected last year to a second term in the Senate.
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