Fortier Under Prosecution’s ‘Hammer’ : Oklahoma City: Officials are reportedly trying to persuade him to plead guilty to lesser charge. If not, they say he’ll be named third conspirator.

Contending that they could charge him as the third conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing, federal officials are trying to persuade Michael Fortier to plead guilty to a lesser charge of attempting to shield others from being tried and punished for the terrorist attack, sources close to the case said Thursday.

Under the arrangement, Fortier would get no more than 15 years in prison for his part in a series of acts that the government believes went into planning and preparing for the April 19 explosion, including his reported trip with Timothy J. McVeigh to inspect the federal building here before it was blown up.

Fortier, a former Army friend of McVeigh, was returned here over the weekend from his hometown of Kingman, Ariz., for more plea-bargaining discussions with prosecutors.

But, sources said, this time he probably will not be permitted to leave if no deal is struck for him to become a witness against McVeigh, Terry L. Nichols and possibly others under investigation by a federal grand jury here.

“He’s not going back to Kingman if the deal falls through,” said one source, who insisted on anonymity. “If it falls through, he’s going to be charged. There is enough to charge him now as a full-bore conspirator.”

Working under two sections of the U.S. Criminal Code, prosecutors believe that Fortier is at least an “accessory after the fact” because he initially gave statements claiming that McVeigh had no role in the bombing.

At the most, they said, he is a full participating conspirator and could be held as accountable as McVeigh, who the government alleges blew up the building with a bomb made of fuel oil and fertilizer and concealed in a rented Ryder truck.

Federal officials, including President Clinton and Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, have pledged that the government will seek the death penalty for those responsible for the bombing, which left 168 dead and 500 injured.

Sources said that the government had used the threat of the maximum penalty as a “hammer” in encouraging Fortier--who was said to have told authorities that he had driven with McVeigh to inspect the building--to serve as a key witness.

“His exposure is enough to tie him into the conspiracy,” a source said. “You’re responsible for all the acts that further the conspiracy. That’s the hammer on him.”

A source close to the case said the government is arguing that Fortier could be charged and convicted under Section 2 of Title 18 of the federal Criminal Code, which states: “Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.”

That would subject Fortier to the possibility of the death penalty, which prosecutors and investigators regard as their leverage in discussions with Fortier and his Oklahoma City attorney, Michael McGuire, one source said. McGuire declined to comment.

Instead, investigators are offering Fortier a guilty plea to the lesser offense of “accessory after the fact,” which allows a maximum punishment of 15 years. Prosecutors would ask a judge for a “downward departure” of the 15-year sentence if Fortier cooperated fully and substantively, one source said.