Posted on 10/05/2006 3:17:11 AM PDT by Aussiebabe
2 women plead guilty in UW ecoterrorism By CURT WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 4, 5:48 PM ET
TACOMA, Wash. - Two women pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, arson and bomb charges in the 2001 firebombing of the University of Washington's horticulture center, one of the Northwest's most notorious acts of ecoterrorism.
Jennifer Kolar, 33, and Lacey Phillabaum, 31, were released without bail after entering the pleas in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Authorities said the two turned themselves in and have cooperated with ongoing investigations.
Under their plea agreements, prosecutors will ask U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess to waive mandatory minimum sentences on the charges of arson, attempted arson and use of a destructive device. That bomb charge alone would otherwise carry a statutory minimum of 30 years, and a maximum term of life.
The plea deals instead will ask that Kolar serve five to seven years and Phillabaum face a recommended sentence of three to five years. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5.
Neither woman commented to reporters after leaving the courtroom.
After the hearings, U.S. Attorney John McKay said the women had "the misguided belief that they would influence public policy. They have not."
"These violent acts of destruction are not a valid form of political speech," he said, calling the arson an act of domestic terrorism.
The fire on May 21, 2001, severely damaged the building, which was rebuilt at a cost of about $7 million. The center had done work on fast-growing hybrid poplars in hopes of limiting the amount of natural forests that timber companies log.
The Earth Liberation Front, a shadowy collection of environmental activists, claimed responsibility and issued a statement saying the poplars pose "an ecological nightmare" for the diversity of native forests.
Kolar also pleaded guilty Wednesday to an attempted arson charge for a failed 1998 firebombing that damaged a Colorado gun club that organized a multistate turkey shoot.
At least three others were involved in the UW firebombing, court documents allege.
Briana Waters of Berkeley, Calif., has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in May. William Rodgers of Prescott, Ariz., committed suicide in jail after being charged with other acts of ecoterrorism.
A fifth suspect, Justin Solondz, formerly of Jefferson County, Wash., remains at large.
It seems that only William Rogers has figured out the obvious solution to environmental degradation. Any environmentalist who doesn't immediately off himself is just a poseur.
For about 27 days....
"Under their plea agreements, prosecutors will ask U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess to waive mandatory minimum sentences on the charges of arson, attempted arson and use of a destructive device. That bomb charge alone would otherwise carry a statutory minimum of 30 years, and a maximum term of life.
The plea deals instead will ask that Kolar serve five to seven years and Phillabaum face a recommended sentence of three to five years. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5"
exactly why we have so much crime, no one has to do the time
2 Women Plead Guilt to EcoTerrorism immediately showered with awards and recognition, promoted to top DNC positions. Pulitzer possible says governing body.
Are there pictures of these idiot criminals?
Ecological nightmares are all the pollutants put into the air from the fire, and the waste and debris that have to be cleaned up and disposed of somewhere. Not to mention the use of more raw materials needed to rebuild, which is going to happen.
Why does it seem like being a greenie means checking your brains at the door-permanently.
LOL! That bulletin board thread is calling them snitches.
This is exactly why those of us working in environmental remediation get totally burned out so dang fast. Hybrid poplars have a wide range of useful purposes from replacement timber instead of cutting old growth forests to being used to actually clean up contaminated soils. Poplars have the ability to uptake, sequester or breakdown some really nasty stuff. And then then the trees can be used for lumber later.
To learn more try this link: http://www.unl.edu/nac/workingtrees/wttw.pdf
Trees- The renewable resource
Late last night, in clicking past "The Weather Channel'.... I noticed that the 2 girls they were searching for in a desert-like place,
had on vests that had an ELF emblem on the shoulder.
I found it interesting that the girls both looked like 2 scrubbed faced young women, desparate to advertise ELF.
I have no idea what they were up to out there or where they were going, because I didn't continue to watch.
Just thought it interesting about the patch on their shoulder, knowing what they are.
So did Timothy McVeigh. He wassn't offered a plea bargain. Maybe the prosecutor thinks that they were doing noble work.
Looks like the Manson Family.
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