Ian Cramer's mugshot (Image: McLean County Jail)
On Monday, Sen. Kevin Cramer’s (R-North Dakota) son, Ian Cramer, 43, was sentenced to 28 years in prison in connection to the death of a sheriff’s deputy last year.
Ian pleaded guilty to nine charges in September, including homicide while fleeing an officer and reckless endangerment and drug possession. The chase, which occurred on December 6, 2023, saw Ian veer and crash into Deputy Paul Martin’s car.
Originally charged with manslaughter, it was later changed to a homicide offense, and Ian was held for $500,000 cash bail at the McLean County Jail in Washburn.
According to court documents, Ian was speeding significantly, reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour, when he ran over a set of spikes and flattened two tires. He continued to speed and swerved to avoid another set of spikes, only to crash into the sheriff’s vehicle, causing Martin to be launched 100 feet. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Bobbi Weiler, the state district judge who sentenced Ian, noted in her sentence that it was unlikely that Ian would be imprisoned the full 28 years, stating, “The Department of Corrections has their own policy on how much time you’re going to serve…These are not mandatory minimums, which means that you’re probably going to serve a small portion of that 28 years and be out on parole. So that’ll give you an opportunity to have a second chance that Deputy Martin does not have, nor does his family have.”
Weiler recommended Ian be treated for mental illness and addiction.
Kris Cramer, Ian’s mother, said in her statement in court that Ian “has hurt his brain a lot on his own,” but confessed she felt guilty for the weak values she instilled in her son, saying, “I really do feel responsible for what happened on Dec. 6.”
Ian said in court, “I had no intention to do any of this. It was an accident, and I just hope that someday they can forgive me, and I think the best thing for me is to go to a hospital and just get more help.”
Ian’s public defender, Kevin McCabe, did not comment on Ian’s sentencing on Monday.
Cramer previously proclaimed that his son suffers from “serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”
Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, Cramer said that while he and his family respect the system, he is “somewhat disappointed that mental health is so casually dismissed both by the court and by the prosecutor.”
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