What William Curry Brown did could have been catastrophic.
In 2017, the lifelong railroad buff sabotaged rail signals and vandalized other equipment belonging to CSX in Braddock, causing a “complete signal failure” at tracks that carried both passenger and freight trains. Investigators said the damage was caught before any trains were impacted.
Brown, 28, of Elizabeth, was ordered Thursday to serve three years of probation after pleading guilty last year.
Investigators said that on Nov. 1, 2017, Brown detached four railroad antennae in Braddock and then used a pair of bolt cutters to slash the cables inside a railroad signal bungalow. The next day, Brown also severed signal wires attached to the rail line in McKeesport.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cook told Senior U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose on Thursday that Brown’s crimes were serious.
“The defendant’s conduct thankfully did not result in any loss of life, but his conduct was undeniably reckless, and could have had extraordinarily tragic results,” Cook wrote in a sentencing document.
Defense attorney Sarah Levin told the court her client has several disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, and borderline intellectual functioning.
Experts have said his diagnoses lead to problems with impulsivity and judgment, Levin told the court. Although Brown is a skilled mechanic, the attorney said, “it doesn’t translate to good decision-making.”
“It doesn’t excuse any of his behavior but definitely affects what the appropriate punishment should be,” she said.
Although the sentencing guidelines called for a term of imprisonment of 18 to 24 months, Levin asked for a sentence that did not include incarceration.
Levin told Ambrose that her client is the sole caretaker for his young daughter, that he has maintained employment while on pre-trial release and complied with the restrictions on him.
“Putting Bill in prison is going to set us back,” Levin said. “Through his compliance, the public is protected by him.”
Further, she suggested that his disabilities would subject him to bullying in prison.
Ambrose agreed.
“I am concerned a period of incarceration would really do you in,” she said.
During the hearing, Brown, who grew up around both model and real trains, apologized for his actions and said he understands he could have hurt someone.
He told the court he was just “screwing around.”
“I am trying to make myself a better person now,” he said.
Levin told Ambrose that her client never intended to cause a train to crash.
“There was not intent to watch a passenger train get into trouble,” she said.
But, Cook countered, “He certainly knew his conduct was wrong. He had to have known this was dangerous conduct.”
As part of the plea agreement, Brown agreed that his conduct was reckless.
“It sounds to me like it was extremely dangerous and could have been catastrophic,” Ambrose said. “It was just, quite frankly, lucky that it only resulted in property damage.”
Also as part of his sentence, Brown was ordered to pay $1,425 in restitution.
Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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Elizabeth man gets probation for sabotaging rail equipment, causing 'complete signal failure' - TribLIVE
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