[lbo-talk] Michael Lerner tattles: the state of the

Dennis Claxton ddclaxton at earthlink.net
Tue Sep 18 12:01:40 PDT 2007


I've been out of town so am just catching up.

Chuck wrote:


>In case you haven't been reading the news, several alleged members of
>the Earth Liberation Front were sentenced to several years, not decades,
>in prison for doing stuff far worse than sitting down in front of a factory.

You left out why. They pled and cooperated. That's the only way you avoid long federal sentences. And 13 years is still a long time.


>Under federal sentencing guidelines, Aiken said, Meyerhoff was
>eligible for 30 years to life in prison. However, prosecutors
>recommended reducing that to 15 years, eight months, based on his
>cooperation with investigators. Aiken further reduced that to 13
>years, noting that Meyerhoff showed courage by naming names and
>opening himself to retribution.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003719703_ecosentence24m.html


>On Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Phillabaum and Kolar
>pled guilty to participating in the UW arson and other crimes. They
>pledged their cooperation in a continuing federal investigation into
>a series of other arsons and attacks on property by Earth Liberation
>Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) across the West.
>
>Under the terms of separate plea agreements, prosecutors will
>recommend that Kolar, 33, of Seattle, receive a federal prison
>sentence of five-to-seven years, and a three-to-five-year term for
>Phillabaum, 31, of Spokane. The two were released without bail
>following their pleas.
>
>"These violent acts of destruction are not a valid form of political
>speech," said U.S. Attorney John McKay. "We hope that these
>significant prison terms will dissuade others."
>
>Both women faced a minimum of 30 years in prison if they had gone to
>trial and been convicted of all counts listed in their plea agreements.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003289715_uwfire05m.html



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