Babe's Farmer Faces Jail After Protesting Against Power Plant

Actor James Cromwell is about to be sent to prison after refusing to pay a fine for protesting against the construction of a natural gas power plant in the state of New York.

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The 77 year old is famed for playing Farmer Hoggett in the piglet movie "Babe" as well as roles in "Star Trek: First Contact" and "American Horror Story."

He took part in a sit-in in Wawayanda with six other activists on December 18, 2015 blocking the entrance to the site.

The activists were arrested and sentenced to a US$250 fine and a US$125 surcharge for “obstructing traffic.”

They alleged that the natural gas-fired power plant posed a threat to the environment because it uses controversial fracked natural gas and poses a health risk to the public.

Cromwell and two of the others refused to pay the fine, claiming that they were rightfully fighting against a development project that would cause irreversible damage to biodiversity in the area.

They were sentenced to one week in an Orange County, New York prison.

"If we don't stay together, nothing will change," Cromwell told the Times Herald-Record. "Power to the people."

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“I cannot pay this fine and feed the corruption that is trampling on the lives of so many people,” Pramilla Malick, another activist told the newspaper after the trial.

Cromwell has been involved in many political causes, including the Civil Rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s.

He joined the Committee to Defend the Panthers set up to help the defense of 13 Black Panther activists arrested in New York and accused of conspiracy -they were eventually released.

He embraced animals rights in the mid-1970s and became vegetarian following a traumatizing experience during a visit to a slaughterhouse.

After filming “Babe,” Cromwell became a vegan.

His prison sentence is set to begin on July 14.

Cromwell's attorney told E! News that after he was sentenced, the actor said "his conscience does not allow him to pay those who are corrupt and destroying the planet."