Two More Eco-terrorists Sentenced (ELF)

EUGENE, Ore. -- A federal judge sentenced two women to prison Thursday for their roles in arson fires around the West that caused more than $40 million in damage over a five-year period.

Suzanne Savoie and Kendall Tankersley were the fifth and sixth of 10 radical environmentalists to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Eugene after they pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy. All were members of an underground cell of the Earth Liberation Front known as "The Family."

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken sentenced Savoie to four years and three months in federal prison. In order to recognize Savoie's cooperation with investigators, Aiken imposed a sentence that was eight months less than that proposed in a plea bargain. Aiken also noted that Savoie left the conspiracy in 2001 and has committed no crimes since then.

Savoie was convicted of participating in two 2001 arsons, at a lumber company and a tree farm.

Tankersley's three-year, 10-month sentence is five months less than she agreed to when she pleaded guilty to an arson at U.S. Forest Industries in Medford in 1998. Aiken said the less severe sentence was because Tankersley left the conspiracy immediately after the arson and cooperated fully when arrested.

A followup article in The Register-Guard, Eugene, OR on the sentencing of Zacher and Block.

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.

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