Jury convicts suspect of puncturing oil pipeline

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- A jury Friday convicted a man of shooting a hole in the trans-Alaska pipeline, leaking more than 285,000 gallons of oil into the wilderness.

Jurors agreed that a drunken Daniel Lewis was responsible for last year's spill, which was the pipeline's second-largest and has cost more than $13 million to clean up. Lewis, 38, could be sentenced to up to 22 years in prison.

Bullets have dented the 800-mile pipeline in the past, but the Oct. 4, 2001, shooting is the only time a bullet punctured the line, which is 48 inches in circumference.

Dozens of people testified in the trial, including Lewis' older brother Randy. He said his brother pointed the gun at him before firing the shot that penetrated the pipeline, which is lined with a half-inch of steel and nearly four inches of insulation.

Prosecutor Kevin Burke said Daniel Lewis fled and hastily discarded a .338-caliber rifle linked to the shooting when a helicopter flew over shortly after the breach on a routine monitor flight.

Defense attorney Adam Gurewitz alleged in closing arguments that it was Randy Lewis who shot the pipeline, and that he decided to blame his brother rather than try to flee. "The helicopter was circling, he was busted and the lies started coming," he said.

Jurors convicted Daniel Lewis of all five counts against him: oil pollution, criminal mischief, weapons misconduct, third-degree assault and driving while intoxicated.

In March, a federal jury found Daniel Lewis guilty of a firearms charge for possessing the rifle linked to the shooting. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison in that case.

In an unrelated case, Lewis is serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for breaking into a Fairbanks U-Haul business in September 2001, stealing the safe and driving off with a truck.