Free Republic

An animal rights activist who burned down a Colorado sheepskin store as well as a leather store and restaurant building in Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday. Walter Edmund Bond, 35, pleaded guilty to felony counts of arson and violence involving animal enterprises. He has already been sentenced to five years in Colorado and could face between five to 20 years for the Utah fires when sentenced Sept. 19. Prosecutor John Huber said the government will argue to make the Colorado and Utah sentences consecutive to one another. "He is unapologetic. He is an unrepentant serial arsonist,"...

A Salt Lake City man connected to animal rights activism faces up to 20 years in prison for setting fire to a Denver-area store that sells products made from sheepskin. Thirty-four-year-old Walter Edmund Bond ...also faces federal charges in Utah for fires at the Salt Lake City Tandy Leather Factory Store, and the Tiburon Fine Dining restaurant in Sandy.

Vegan activist Walter Edmund Bond, of Utah, today pleaded guilty to felony counts related to an April fire that burned down the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale. Bond, 34, was arrested on July 22, accused of using fire or explosives to damage property involved in interstate commerce and of using force, violence or threats involving animal enterprises. The blaze caused more than $500,000 in damage to the Sheepskin Factory in the early hours of April 30. On July 28, Bond pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. By changing his plea today, he may be eligible for a shorter prison sentence....