June 20, 1995
(CNN) -- Michael Fortier, a long-time army buddy of Timothy McVeigh's, has resumed talks with Federal prosecutors. Timothy McVeigh is currently the primary suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing of the A.P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Prosecutors hope to forge a plea-bargain with Fortier to testify against McVeigh.
Fortier drove away from his in-laws' home in Kingman, Arizona, under FBI escort on Sunday, June 18, and left for an undisclosed location, where he and his lawyer are said to be meeting with prosecutors.
A source told CNN that investigators were confronting Fortier with the possibility of a long prison sentence unless he does choose to cooperate in the case. Even a deal for leniency would be expected to require a guilty plea and several years behind bars, according to these sources.
The talks were said to be taking place somewhere other than Oklahoma City. Fortier's lawyer in Oklahoma City, Michael McGuire, could not be reached for comment.
According to sources, Fortier has said he drove McVeigh on a scouting trip to look at the federal building in Oklahoma City as far back as last December, four months before the bombing. These sources say, by Fortier's account, McVeigh told him about the bombing plot and asked him to participate, but Fortier says he declined.
Fortier and McVeigh went through Army basic training together and remained friends. McVeigh was the best man at Fortier's wedding. McVeigh had been staying in a motel in Fortier's home town of Kingman until a week before the attack.
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