The 22-year-old man accused of causing at least $20,000 worth of damage by tagging property in Portland and Vancouver took a plea deal Wednesday.
Emile Laurent, who allegedly left the tag “TENDO” across multiple Portland buildings, pleaded guilty to one felony count and three misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief. In exchange, Multnomah County prosecutors dropped 21 additional charges, according to court records.
A county circuit court judge sentenced Laurent to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and $6,815 in restitution distributed amongst four victims.
Laurent, a high-profile skateboarder who has been featured in Thrasher magazine, turned himself in to police Aug. 22. Officials announced the day before that they were searching for the “prolific graffiti vandal.”
He was accused of damaging various locations owned by the city of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation, as well as several private businesses and properties in Portland and Vancouver.
Laurent was charged with criminal mischief in 2018, but prosecutors dropped the case.
Under the plea deal, Laurent cannot possess “spray paint, spray paint tips or other graffiti related instruments,” unless approved by a probation officer, court records show.
In another effort to curb vandalism in Portland, police arrested a 43-year-old man accused of graffiti tagging and ghost gun manufacturing in April. Jacob Ramos faces over 100 charges related to the crimes. He will appear in court next on June 21.
A poll of Portland voters found that 61% of respondents saw graffiti as a “very big” or “moderately big” problem in October.
Laurent’s lawyer, Bridget Donnegan, declined to comment Saturday.
– Austin De Dios; [email protected]; @austindedios; 503-319-9744