'Prolific' tagger must spend 80 hours cleaning up graffiti in Seattle

SEATTLE — A graffiti tagger who was accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to public and private property in Seattle has been ordered to spend 80 hours cleaning up graffiti in the city, according to a plea agreement.

Casey Cain, 37, entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of malicious mischief and will avoid further jail time in exchange for the community service ordered by the court.

Cain’s graffiti tag “EAGER” has been painted thousands of times on buildings and public infrastructure around Seattle.

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Seattle police arrested Cain in December 2022 while he was painting graffiti on an apartment building in Capitol Hill.

In a sentencing order, King County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Atchison suspended a jail sentence and ordered Cain to complete 80 hours of graffiti abatement. The sentencing agreement does not require Cain to pay restitution to the business and property owners whose buildings were damaged.

Cain’s attorney, Hana Yamahiro, argued that Cain has had "significant positive life changes" since his arrest.

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“Casey has participated in numerous art shows, designed multiple skate parks in the city, started designing clothing, and was hired to design the logo for Off the Rez Café food trucks,” Yamahiro wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Yamahiro also noted Cain was severely burned when multiple explosive devices were detonated in a homeless encampment near Harborview Medical Center earlier this year.

Atchison’s order will require Cain to submit proof to the court that he participated in graffiti abatement.

"King County prosecutors will be monitoring this case closely, and if there are probation violations, prosecutors expect to bring those before the court," King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney told KOMO News.

Cain was charged twice with misdemeanor graffiti charges in Seattle Municipal Court in 2023, but those charges were thrown out when a federal judge upended the city's graffiti statute.

The Seattle City Attorney's Office is arguing in a federal appeals court in San Francisco in an attempt to get judge's ruling reversed.