BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A North Dakota man was sentenced Monday to more than two years in prison for burning down a church on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Rode Wayne Vocu, 23, of New Town, was sentenced after pleading guilty to arson in the April 22 fire that destroyed the Memorial Congregational Church near White Shield.
The church was built in 1926 in Elbowoods and moved as floodwaters from construction of the Garrison Dam approached.
The church held countless memories for community members, said Karen Hartman, who was called to the stand Monday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan O’Konek. Hartman’s parents and older siblings attended church there, and special events were held at the location even after it fell into disrepair, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
The fire was another reminder of the trauma the community’s elders suffered through when the river bottomland on the reservation was flooded, Hartman said.
“I hope this young man understands what a devastating loss this is to the elders,” she said. “A lot of the elders have forgiven him. I hope he can forgive himself.”
His federal public defender, Christopher Bellmore, said Vocu has has accepted responsibility for the fire, but because of mental health and substance abuse issues he can’t recall what happened the day the church burned
Setting fire to the church “was a rather mindless and senseless criminal act,” Judge Daniel Hovland said.
“I hope you can stay out of trouble the rest of your life, and I hope make better choices,” the judge told Vocu.
The congregation is discussing a monument at the site of the burned church.
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