Ian Cramer, 43, the son of U.S Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D) was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his involvement in a car chase that resulted in the death of a police officer.
In Dec. 2023, Cramer said his wife, Kris, took their son to the emergency room after he was insisting to see his brother Ike, who died in 2018. When Mrs. Cramer stepped out of the vehicle, Ian jumped into the driver’s seat and fled.
This led to an hourlong chase that ended when Ian “crashed head-on into an unoccupied Mercer County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle that was parked on a roadside approach,” the highway patrol said at the time.
Paul Martin, 53, a Mercer County Deputy, was standing behind the patrol vehicle preparing to deploy a tire deflation device in an attempt to end the pursuit when the patrol car was hit. The force of the impact pushed the patrol car into the deputy killing him.
Ian Cramer 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 offense.
He also admitted to using methamphetamine and bath salts on the day of the crash.
On Monday, District Judge Bobbi Weiler sentenced Ian Cramer to 38 years in prison with 10 years suspended, three years of probation and credit since he served more than a year in jail, the Associated Press reported.
Weiler also recommended that Ian Cramer receive treatment for addiction and mental health and noted that he likely will not serve the full 28-year sentence.
“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,” Weiler said.
In court, Ian Cramer apologized to Martin’s family and said he had no intention of killing him.
“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,” he said.
In a statement after the fatal crash last year, Sen. Cramer said his son “suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.”
