An Iron Range City Council member who cut down a Minnesota Power support wire on his property in May, knocking out electricity to three cities, entered into a plea agreement Monday.
Joseph Christopher Vaida, 64, of McKinley, was immediately sentenced by St. Louis County District Judge Robert Friday to five years of unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to a count of damaging an electric line.
Vaida received a stay of imposition, under which the court does not impose a felony-level sentence. Rather, the conviction will be deemed a misdemeanor if he remains law-abiding until August 2030.
Joseph Christopher Vaida, 63, of McKinley (Forum News Service)
Authorities said Vaida had a “long and contentious history” and engaged in “many instances of intimidating and disorderly conduct toward Minnesota Power employees” before the May 19 incident in which he disrupted service to McKinley, Gilbert and Biwabik.
According to court documents, a company employee spoke with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office days earlier to report that Vaida was threatening to cut down a guy wire anchored on his property. A guy wire is a tensioned cable that runs diagonally from a freestanding pole to add stability.
Minnesota Power indicated an easement had been in place since 1990, and officials were looking into the issue, but they would not have time to resolve it within seven days, as Vaida demanded.
A deputy warned Vaida not to damage the line and encouraged him to resolve the situation in court, according to a criminal complaint. But he began listing various grievances with the utility and declared, “Monday at noon it’s going down, period.”
After Vaida followed through on the promise, crews were able to quickly restore service to the two neighboring cities. However, they would not go near his McKinley property until he was located, and warned authorities that the ground around the pole was hazardous.
Deputies said they went to the area and found Vaida driving nearby. Metal cutters and an ax were located inside his pickup truck as he was arrested.
Authorities said the severed wire was found wrapped in barbed wire “to hinder any attempts to investigate or repair the damage,” and it appeared there had been recent digging in an attempt to remove the anchor.
The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office agreed to drop two other felony counts of damaging utility property and first-degree property damage.
Vaida was elected to the McKinley City Council in 2018 and reelected four years later. The city, which is about an 8-mile drive east of Virginia, had a population of 103 at the 2020 Census.
He remained an active member of the council as of last week, according to the St. Louis County Auditor’s Office.
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