Cottrell, who testified that SUV dealers were "evil," Ooooooo, sounds kind of JUDGEMENTAL.......BAD liberal! No tofu for you!
Posted on 11/20/2004 11:47:51 AM PST by BurbankKarl
A Caltech graduate student was convicted Friday of firebombing sport utility vehicles at a Hummer dealership last year to protest the American auto industry's contribution to environmental pollution.
After deliberating less than a day, a federal court jury found William Jensen Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics, guilty of seven counts of arson and one count of conspiracy.
Cottrell, who testified that SUV dealers were "evil," faces at least five years in prison when he is sentenced in March.
But he was spared an additional 30 years behind bars, mandatory under federal law, when the jury acquitted him of the most serious charge of using a destructive device during a crime of violence.
Two other suspects in the Aug. 22, 2003, string of arsons and vandalism are fugitives. Tyler Johnson, a Caltech graduate, and his girlfriend, Michie Oe, have been named as unindicted co-conspirators. They are believed to have fled the country.
"The U.S. attorney's office is pleased that justice has been served," said Beverly Reid O'Connell, the lead prosecutor, after Friday's verdict. The hunt for the other two suspects is continuing, she said.
Cottrell, Johnson and Oe are blamed for causing nearly $5 million in property damage during a nighttime escapade in which about 125 vehicles and a building were damaged or destroyed at four auto dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
So how long till we start hearing about how this is the gubbermint stiflin free speach and all ?
Stinking hippies always get off light.
Two other suspects in the Aug. 22, 2003, string of arsons and vandalism are fugitives. Tyler Johnson, a Caltech graduate, and his girlfriend, Michie Oe, have been named as unindicted co-conspirators. They are believed to have fled the country.
Now, if we can only get the rest of the vermin to leave the country!
If he served his full five years, which he won't, that would work out to about two weeks per car. He certainly pays off cars faster than I do.
Five years for this level of property damage and mahem, is a crime in and of itself.
Who paid for those five or six million dollars worth of vehicles? Those who pay insurance premiums.
This guy should have served between ten and twenty years IMO.
Good, I hope they send him to that really serious Fed'l prison in Minnesotta, wherever it is. Where Gotti was locked up.
Cottrell, who testified that SUV dealers were "evil," Ooooooo, sounds kind of JUDGEMENTAL.......BAD liberal! No tofu for you!
This is a terrorist action and he gets only five years? This guy should have been given at least 25 to life.
This is crime against property rights. I bet you he stood before a liberal judge - who imposed a very light sentence.
Only 5 years? That bum could have killed someone...through the book at the bum and his accomplices!
The article in the Dallas Morning News referenced him as a grad student without mentioning the school. Immediately I thought Berkeley. But Cal Tech??????? Cal Tech must have changed significantly since I left LA LA Land 15 years ago!
They should tie him to the hood of one of these things and drive it into a wall.
A really smart kid screws his life. This kid must have been super smart but he had zero commonsense. Arson is a serious crime and you don't screw around with auto dealers because they will make sure you don't get a slap on the hand. My guess is the parents spent a bundle trying to keep him out of jail.
Supposedly, the kid who fled started the fires is the one who fled with his girlfriend. He and the girlfriend are really screwed for taking off.
Thanks for the "rabid-transit."
Is this the quality of students that Caltech produces? Geez, and I was thinking about sending my son there for and education BUT if all that they produce is firebombing miscreants, maybe I will send my tuition money elsewhere!!!
Why do you think he was "smart". I know people who did arson, and got busted, and trust me they are not what I would call smart.
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