Posted on 06/04/2008 8:08:31 AM PDT by jazusamo
The activist pleads guilty in two arsons and will serve at the Sheridan federal prison
Tre Arrow, a radical environmentalist who was once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of arson.
Appearing before U.S. District Judge James Redden, Arrow agreed to serve to 78 months in federal prison, with credit for time served since March 2004 in jails in Canada and the United States.
Arrow, who will be formally sentenced Aug. 12, will serve about two years and four months at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution.
His sentence could be further reduced by 54 days for good behavior for each year he serves. As part of the plea agreement, Arrow agreed to pay restitution for financial losses by the arson victims.
Arrow could have faced a maximum of 40 years in prison. Each count carried a mandatory sentence of five years and a fine of $500,000.
Arrow pleaded guilty to setting fire to concrete-mixing trucks from Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland on April 15, 2001, and setting fire to logging trucks in Eagle Creek near Mount Hood on June 1, 2001.
Arrow entered the packed courtroom wearing a white jumpsuit and smiling and talking with his attorneys, Paul Loney and Bruce Ellison.
Arrow was one of two radical environmentalists sentenced Tuesday. In Eugene, Jacob Ferguson was sentenced to five years on probation for his role in a string of 20 fires across the West from 1996 to 2001 to protest logging and environmental damage to forests.
Ferguson later helped federal officials round up a militant cell of arsonists called "the Family," which caused more than $40 million in damage.
Part of Arrow's plea agreement stipulates that upon his release, he cannot knowingly associate with groups that encourage unlawful acts. His probation will last two to three years, prosecutors said. He also waived his right to appeal.
Arrow, a onetime candidate for Congress, legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti. He was charged in a 14-count federal indictment with helping destroy the concrete trucks and with firebombing the logging trucks.
He became a fugitive after he was indicted and was arrested in March 2004 in British Columbia on local shoplifting charges. He was extradited to the United States in February.
He said on his Web site that he accepted the plea deal because he didn't want to risk "spending the rest of my life in prison."
"He's a very gentle and kind man," said Nancy Dorr, a longtime friend who met Arrow at a raw food festival. Dorr said Arrow told her last week about the plea and the 78-month sentence.
"This was the best deal he was going to get," she said. "I'm glad he took it because I don't think he would have gotten a fair trial."
Dorr said it appeared that Arrow has suffered in jail.
"He did not look good when he came back to Portland," she said. "But when I talked with him last week, he was very upbeat. . . . This was a very good deal."
Arrow's plea and Ferguson's sentencing were the latest in a series of high-profile victories by federal officials against radical environmentalists who have carried out attacks around the West.
Earlier this year in Sacramento, Eric McDavid was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for conspiring to destroy a northern California dam, a genetics lab and other targets. McDavid was convicted in March for masterminding what FBI agents described as an eco-terrorist plot in the name of the Earth Liberation Front.
In Seattle, Briana Waters is awaiting sentencing Friday after she was convicted of arson in a 2001 attack on a University of Washington plant research center.
Yep, Nancy and many others worship the ground he walks on, just goes to show what acid and meth can do to ones brain.
Arrow entered the packed courtroom smiling and talking
The terrorists won again ?
“He’s a very gentle and kind man”
Who engages in sociopathic behavior. Prison is a good place for him.
>> Dorr said it appeared that Arrow has suffered in jail.
[insert smiley happy face here]
I believe Jacob better make himself disappear, he’s not well thought of now in the radical terrorist circles. One of the nutjobs are bound to get him sooner or later.
I think you’re right, George. This plea was a joke for what he and some of his radical friends did.
“Arrow agreed”
The law is becoming a joke when the criminal is allowed to agree to a sentence.
You mean all he has to say is, "Gee, I didn't know. Honest.", and he's off the hook?
I knew the bastard would not get any substantial prison time. They never do.
I’m sure this vegetarian will soon be eating plenty of meat.
He's got a few years of proposals from hairy men to keep him busy for now.
>> I’m sure this vegetarian will soon be eating plenty of meat.
Yeah, and eating it will be the relatively enjoyable part.
You’re correct and I hope his eco nut friends are smart enough to realize it though I doubt it.
How right you are Bay!
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