Fortier

OKLAHOMA CITY (CNN) -- Michael Fortier, the government's key witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $200,000 in fines for not warning anyone about the plot to bomb the federal building and for lying to the FBI.

Fortier could have been sentenced to 17-1/2 years, but U.S. District Judge Thomas Van Bebber gave him less time because prosecutors said his testimony helped convict his friend Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols at their trials last year.

Van Bebber imposed the sentence after hearing pleas from victims' relatives to give Fortier the maximum sentence for doing nothing to stop the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people.

Fortier, 29, had pleaded guilty to not warning anyone about the bombing plot and lying to FBI agents. He also admitted hiding evidence and trafficking in guns the government says were stolen to finance the bombing.

Fortier, an ex-Army buddy of both bomb defendants, wiped away tears during Wednesday's proceedings as bomb survivors and relatives of those who did not survive told of their losses.

Before learning his sentence, Fortier spoke:

"Dear people of Oklahoma, I offer my apology and ask that you forgive me," he said while his wife, Lori, wept on a courtroom bench surrounded by bombing survivors.

"I shamefully admit I've broken many laws. My actions and inactions have hurt many people," he said.

Fortier said he never thought McVeigh's plan "would bear such rotten fruit."

"I deeply regret not taking the information that I had to the police," he said. He described his actions as self-centered and cowardly: "I put myself first in spite of the sea of grief and sorrow experienced by bombing victims."

"I am so completely ashamed that I did not come forward with my knowledge right away," he said.

Fortier also said he listened closely as bombing victims testified earlier Wednesday.

"Their stories are so horrifying, so heartbreaking, so full of human suffering that I cannot bear them. I feel as though my mind would break," he said.

Fortier's attorneys had asked the judge for a lenient prison sentence, arguing that he was "the mailman who delivered the evidence" in the bombing case.

Defense attorneys had asked the judge to sentence Fortier to 37 to 46 months in prison. He already has served 33 months.

"Mr. Fortier was the best, the most damning, the most direct and the only witness who could provide direct evidence of the planning, preparation, motivation and execution of the bomb plot of (Timothy) McVeigh and (Terry) Nichols," defense attorney Michael McGuire said in a brief filed Tuesday.

McVeigh was sentenced to death on his conviction in the bombing. Nichols faces up to life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 4 on conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Special section:

• Oklahoma City bombing trials

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• Fortier apologizes for not stopping Oklahoma City bombing

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• Fortier apologizes for not reporting plot - Dallas Morning News