Joyanna Lynn Zacher.............Nathan Block
Posted on 06/01/2007 3:43:20 PM PDT by jazusamo
Friday, June 1, 2007
Saying she found no remorse in either defendant, U.S. District Court Ann Aiken on Friday sentenced Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block to seven years, eight months in federal prison for their role in a string of arsons. Zacher and Block are among four defendants who made plea deals with federal prosecutors but declined to name names of co-conspirators in the Operation Backfire investigations.
Aiken said the defendants wanted to be martyrs and be hailed as heroes in the cause and yet receive some consideration in their sentencing deals. However, Aiken declined to further lower the sentence prosecutors agreed to in negotiations with defendants.
Read more on the story in Saturday’s Register-Guard.
Already sentenced:
Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff - (5-23-07) - 13 years
Kevin Tubbs ----------------- (5-24-07) - 12 years, 7 months
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach ------- (5-25-07) - 9 years
Darren Todd Thurston---------(5-29-07) - 3 years, 1 month
Suzanne Nicole Savoie--------(5-31-07) - 4 years, 3 months
Sarah Kendall Tankersley-----(5-31-07) - 3 years, 10 months
Joyanna Lynn Zacher---------(6-01-07) - 7 years, 8 months
Nathan Fraser Block----------(6-01-07) - 7 years, 8 months
Coming up:
Daniel Gerard McGowan
Jonathan Paul
An older article in the Eugene Weekly News with pics and some background.
“wanted to be martyrs”... Maybe they are witches! Let’s see if they burn.
I’ll wager they won’t be martyrs in the federal prisons they’re going to and those terms will give them time to think about it.
I feel badly for them and for their parents.
No, not really.
Do you feel better after making your "fee speech"?
Any news on Rebecca Rubin or Josephine Sunshine Overaker ?
I haven’t read a word about either of them for a while. I believe they still think they’re out of the country.
Well, good. I thot for a minute that you were serious.
Josephine Sunshine Overaker
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/dt/overaker_js.htm
REBECCA J. RUBIN
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/dt/rubin_rj.htm
Have never heard of The Register-Guard' and there are no other clues as to just 'where' we are, in this story.
Maybe they should have been offered a three-year tour of duty. Perhaps there should be a special squadron for these wannabe 'somebodies'. . .
The Register-Guard is in Eugene, OR and the link in post #2 to the Eugene Weekly news will give you some backgroung on these turkeys.
LOL! I don’t think our military want people like these unless they’re looking for more prisoners at Leavenworth.
Thanks!, I love that pic. LOL!
GUUUUIIIILLLLTYYYY!!
“Aiken said the defendants wanted to be martyrs and be hailed as heroes in the cause and yet receive some consideration in their sentencing deals.”
Hey...if they WANT to be martyrs....then LONGER sentences are in order, no...???
[those people have EVIL in their eyes]
Pair to do federal time for arsons
By Bill Bishop
The Register-Guard
Published: Saturday, June 2, 2007
Saying she found no remorse in either defendant, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken on Friday sentenced Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Fraser Block to seven years and eight months in federal prison for their role in a string of arsons by environmental extremists.
Zacher, 29, and Block, 26, are the youngest of 10 people arrested in the Operation Backfire investigation. They are among four who refused to name others in the conspiracy when they made plea bargains last year.
In six previous sentencings, Aiken lowered prison terms for conspirators who fully cooperated with the government, showed remorse for their actions and had turned away from crime after the conspiracy dissolved in 2001.
"You are very different from the other co-conspirators," Aiken told the pair, who lived together in Olympia, Wash., participated in the same two arsons and were sentenced together on Friday.
Aiken said the pair pleaded guilty for all the wrong reasons. Rather than accept responsibility and assist in the investigation, the duo wanted to get as much leniency as possible while being hailed as martyrs for the movement because they did not cooperate, Aiken said.
Zacher and Block pleaded guilty to conspiracy, 47 counts of arson and one count of attempted arson for fires at an SUV dealership in Eugene and at a tree farm in Clatskanie in 2001.
Aiken ruled that both crimes fit the definition for terrorism under federal law, substantially increasing the potential sentence for each. As she has in previous hearings, she then recited the penalties under federal sentencing guidelines and calculated Zacher and Block faced a potential sentence of 17 1/2 years to more than 21 years in prison. With her judicial authority, she then lowered each sentence to the term agreed to in the plea bargain, but refused to go further.
She focused on the statements the pair made to her in court, each taking less than one minute, neither offering an apology or regret.
"I didn't hear anybody say they were sorry. I didn't hear an apology. I didn't hear anybody say they were going to work and pay the restitution. What was missing in the statements was glaring," she said.
Addressing the defendants' families in the courtroom, Aiken indicated that Zacher and Block had turned their backs to caring people.
"They've had loving families. I hope ... they will understand what a gift that is," Aiken said. "They've made a decision about where they want to be in the world."
Aiken said that even the best efforts of the pair's defense lawyers could not leverage a lower sentence.
Defense lawyers William Sharp and John Storkel emphasized that the pair were involved in only two of the conspiracy's 19 separate attacks; that they were active in the conspiracy for about two months; and that they dropped all forms of activism after they left the group in 2001.
Sharp pointed to what he called "whiner factors" that other defendants had used - such as immaturity, being a social outcast, and love for the environment or animals. He said the real issue in sentencing should be how many arsons were committed, how much damage was done and how long each defendant remained in the group.
Sharp and Storkel argued that comparing Zacher and Block's crimes to others in the conspiracy, and then adding an extra 18-month penalty for not fully cooperating, would result in a sentence of five years and three months.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall said the pair's destructive behavior began in 1999 during the riot at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.
He said the pair participated in four other attacks for which they were not charged, including destruction of crops and trees used in research, tree spiking near Cottage Grove, and another attempted crop attack in Idaho. He said the two maintained a marijuana growing operation up until the time of their arrest.
Engdall said Block held no lofty environmental ideals, but told investigators he was in it for the adventure - a charge Storkel discounted as "being candid about how you feel doing some of those things."
The sentencings continue Monday with a hearing for Daniel McGowan, and conclude Tuesday with a hearing for Jonathan Paul.
No parole, no time off for 'good' behavior.
Enjoy being somebodies plaything, losers.
L
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