Seven senior citizens sentenced over vandalism of Kings Bay Naval Base

KINGS BAY, Ga. — Seven people have received their final sentence for their 2018 illegal entry and vandalism of Submarine Base Kings Bay.

Patrick Oneill, 65, Martha Hennessy, 65, Elizabeth McAllister, 81, Therese Grady, 62, Mark Corville, 59, Michael Kelly, 72, and Carmen Trotta, 58, were all arrested on April 4, 2018, after walking onto the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.

They were members of the Kings Bay Plowshare group who said they were speaking out against the use of nuclear weapons.

“Their goal is to enact Isiah’s, the prophet Isiah’s, call to turn swords into plowshares,” said Jessica Stewart, a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares.

Despite their arrests, members of the group told Action News Jax in 2018 this will not discourage them from continuing to work toward a more peaceful world.

But they claim the real crime is being done by the U.S. government.

“They’ve indicted Kings Bay, they’ve indicted the U.S. Defense Department and President Trump for continuing war crimes, which is what trident and this base represent,” Plowshare member Paul Magno told us in 2018.

Colville, of New Haven, Conn., was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $33,503.51 in restitution, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

The Department of Justice says Colville was among seven co-conspirators who cut a padlock from the gate of an outer security fence at the naval installation in St. Marys, Ga., on the evening of April 4. Once through the security fence, the suspects split into two groups and then damaged and vandalized property inside the facility before being taken into custody by naval security personnel.

Colville, along with six other defendants, was found guilty after a four-day jury trial in October 2019 on charges of Conspiracy, Destruction of Property on a Naval Installation, Depredation of Government Property, and Trespass. Colville was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after completion of his prison sentence, according to court documents.

Cox Media Group