The adult son of the Republican North Dakota US senator Kevin Cramer has been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison in connection with a wild chase in which he fled from a hospital and drove into a deputy’s vehicle, killing the deputy.
Ian Cramer, 43, pleaded guilty in September to all of the charges against him, including homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses. Those charges related to the chase and crash in December last year that killed the Mercer county sheriff’s deputy Paul Martin, 53.
The state court judge Bobbi Weiler handed down the sentence of 38 years with 10 years suspended, three years of probation and credit for more than a year served in jail. She also included recommended treatment for addiction and mental health. But he likely will not serve the full 28 years, the judge said.
“The [state] department of corrections has their own policy on how much time you’re going to serve,” Weiler said. “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.”
Ian Cramer, who wore orange and sat quietly next to his public defender, apologized to Martin’s family when asked if he would like to speak.
He added: “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.”
Much of the sentencing focused on Cramer’s addiction and mental health. His mother, Kris Cramer, read a statement in which she said her son “has hurt his brain a lot on his own” and is dealing with a mental illness. She apologized and said: “I really do feel responsible for what happened on December 6 [2023].”
Bismarck police said Ian Cramer’s mother had taken him to a hospital because of mental health concerns. Court documents say he crawled into the driver seat of his parents’ vehicle after his mother got out and smashed in reverse through the closed garage door of the hospital’s ambulance bay. He later fled from deputies when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113km) from Bismarck, authorities said.
Cramer hit speeds of more than 100mph (160km/h) 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 and launched him about 100ft (30m), authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Cramer pleaded not guilty in the homicide case in April. He was initially charged with manslaughter, later changed to the homicide offense, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. He has been held at the McLean county jail in Washburn on $500,000 cash bail.
All of the offenses to which he pleaded guilty carry a maximum sentence of just over 38 years in prison, according to the prosecutor’s sentencing brief filed earlier in December.
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In March, Ian Cramer pleaded not guilty to separate felony charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the events at the Bismarck hospital. A jury trial is scheduled for January.
Kevin Cramer has said his son “suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations”.
The senator won re-election to a second term in November.
