A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty Friday to destroying four substations alongside another man, and plotting to cut down trees to take out power lines on Christmas Day in Pierce County.
Authorities arrested Matthew Greenwood and Jeremy Crahan, 41, both from Puyallup, before the pair could fell the trees as planned, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington said in a news release.
But the two caused damage that led to power outages for thousands of customers.
The two men planned the attacks so they could break into ATMs and businesses to take money, according to the attorney's office.
The men cut through a perimeter fence at the Graham substation owned by Tacoma Power, and Greenwood damaged equipment. They also cut padlocks at the Elk Plain substation in Spanaway owned by the same company, with Greenwood manipulating breakers, causing a power outage.
More than 7,500 customers lost power due to the two outages, the office said.
The men also cut through a fence at the Hemlock substation owned by Puget Sound Energy, and Greenwood manipulated a switch damaging equipment and causing 8,000 customers to lose power.
They got into the Kapowsin substation, owned by Puget Sound Energy, causing another power outage after Greenwood tampered with a switch.
Greenwood faces 20 years in prison. Prosecutors agreed to recommend the low end of the sentencing range for Greenwood, according to the attorney's office, which said Greenwood has been in intensive drug treatment as the case gets resolved.
Greenwood's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Crahan remained charged as of Friday with conspiracy to attack energy facilities.
