Environmental activist sentenced to 41 months in prison

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An environmental activist was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to firebombing logging trucks and equipment at two Oregon companies in the spring of 2001. Jacob Sherman told Judge James Redden that he was "ashamed" of participating in the bombings. He has been linked to the Earth Liberation Front, a loose group of activists that the FBI has classified as an eco-terrorist group."There has not been a single day since (that) I have not thought about and regretted the role I played in those events," Sherman wrote in a letter to the judge earlier this month.The crimes carry maximum sentences of about 40 years. Three other people -- including well-known protester and fugitive Michael Scarpitti, better known as Tre Arrow -- face charges in connection with the logging-company fires, which caused $50,000 in damage at Ray A. Schoppert Logging of Estacada, and $210,000 in damage to trucks at Ross Island Sand & Gravel. Sherman "immediately began to cooperate" with investigators after his arrest, according to court documents, and pointed investigators toward others involved in the bombings.

Court documents filed by Sherman's attorney identify Arrow as "the leader and instigator" of the arsons. Arrow "groomed" Sherman, the documents claim, slowly introducing him to radical protesting. As a student at Portland State University, Sherman stopped bathing, stopped wearing shoes and began eating a strict vegan diet to imitate Arrow. In his letter to the judge, Sherman mentioned heavy peer pressure and said his beliefs were blurred. "I had some distorted vision that the arsons would stop damage to the environment," he wrote. "I got caught up in schemes to burn down trucks." Arrow, a former congressional candidate, has been on the run since last year.

Restitution?

That's my question too. Who is going to make the people damaged "whole"? Some of these "green groups" have tens of millions in cash or significant cash flow. One of these commercial busineeses needs to wack one of them in court for big bucks! Because they are promoting violence and encouraging nuts like this to do what he did.

And maybe some of the attorneys that work/run some of these "green groups" need to be disbarred for promoting violence and/or various illegal activities.

At a minimum some of these "green" nonprofits should have their nonprofit status revoked and have to pay corporate income taxes and/or be prosecuted for tax evasion.

There are now over 850,000 nonprofits in America. It's time to reform the way nonprofits are allowed to be formed and operate.

Affidavit Details Alleged Logging Arson (Oregonian article- 11/07/02)

A forest activist accused of torching logging trucks during last year's protests of the Eagle Creek timber sale returned home after the arson with a car reeking of gasoline, his eyebrows singed from a clumsy attempt to light a firebomb, according to FBI papers filed in federal court. Jacob D.B. Sherman, 20, and three other environmental activists stand accused of taking part in the arson on June 1, 2001, which caused $50,000 damage to three trucks belonging to Ray A. Schoppert Logging of Estacada. The government also has charged Sherman with the Easter 2001 firebombing of three cement trucks belonging to Portland's Ross Island Sand & Gravel. The Earth Liberation Front, later claimed responsibility for the crime. Well-known environmentalist Tre Arrow, a onetime congressional candidate is accused of taking part in both arsons. He remained a fugitive on Wednesday, according to the FBI.

An FBI search-warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court lays out, for the first time publicly, the government's case against Sherman,Arrow and two alleged accomplices in the Schoppert fire. In the early hours of June 1, 2001, eight homemade incendiaries made of gallon milk jugs were placed beneath six log trucks and a front-end loader at Schoppert Logging near Estacada. Four of the firebombs ignited. Later that day, the government got a tip that led them to Sherman and his fellow activists, according to a search-warrant affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Diana M. Kimes. Sherman's father, Tim Sherman, phoned the FBI to report his son's possible involvement, Kimes wrote. Jacob Sherman of Southeast Portland had borrowed his mother's Toyota on March 31, 2001, the night before the firebombing. In the wee hours the following morning, he returned the car, which reeked of gasoline fumes, the affidavit states.

In the months after the Estacada arson, the document shows, Sherman confided to girlfriend Jacquelyn Caul that he had helped set fire to some logging trucks and that the FBI was tailing him. "Jacob told Jacquelyn there were about five trucks at the target location and each person was responsible for placing a device under each of the trucks," Kimes wrote. "The devices were designed to ignite after they left the site, but when Jacob attempted to initiate the device with his cigarette lighter, it immediately ignited and burned the hairs on his arm and part of his eyebrows." When Sherman returned home about 3 a.m. on the day of the arson, he told his brother to tell whoever asked that he had returned at 10:30 p.m. the previous night, the agent wrote. Sherman told Caul he strongly believed that cutting down trees was wrong. He also told her that he and his accomplices in the logging truck arson had made a pact that if any of them were caught they would not tell authorities the identities of the others, according to Kimes' affidavit. One day, Caul mentioned to Sherman that her father happened to be a deputy state fire marshal. According to the court document, Sherman told Caul: "You better not tell him." She did. Sherman's attorney, Andrew Bates, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The FBI and a federal prosecutor assigned to the case, Frank Noonan, declined to elaborate on the affidavit Wednesday. But this much is known: The Estacada case led authorities to Sherman and Scarpitti, who were indicted last month for the April 15, 2001, arson at Ross Island Sand & Gravel, which caused $210,000 damage. The Earth Liberation Front, an underground group that sabotages enterprises that it accuses of harming the natural world, claimed responsibility for the crime. When Sherman and two of his alleged accomplices came to court in August, however, U.S. District Judge James A. Redden told lawyers that he did not want to hear the word "terrorism" uttered in his courtroom. The defendants were charged with arson, not terrorism. "The term 'terrorist' is not to be used in reference to this case or the defendants," Redden warned, "and the use of that term may mean the imposition of sanctions."

FBI ANNOUNCES REWARD FOR MICHAEL SCARPITTI aka TRE ARROW

The FBI is posting a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of MICHAEL JAMES SCARPITTI aka TRE ARROW. SCARPITTI is wanted in connection with two arson fires.

The first arson attack happened at Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland on April 15, 2001. Three trucks suffered more than $200,000 in damage. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed this fire via a written communique. The U.S. Department of Justice considers ELF to be a domestic terrorism group.

The second arson happened at Ray Schoppert Logging Company in Estacada, Oregon, on June 1, 2001. Two logging trucks and a front loader were damaged in this attack. No person or group claimed this act of arson.

In addition to the reward, the FBI is featuring SCARPITTI on its web page in its December fugitives section. SCARPITTI'S wanted poster can be viewed at http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/dec2002/decscarpitti.htm

Anyone with information concerning SCARPITTI'S whereabouts is asked to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181.

Contact: Beth Anne Steele (503) 552-5238

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