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A federal judge ruled on April 18 that 24-year-old William Jensen Cottrell should serve more than seven years in federal prison and pay more than $3.5 million in restitution for an August 2003 firebombing spree that damaged or destroyed some 125 sport utility vehicles at dealerships and homes outside Los Angeles. Cottrell will be required to serve at least 85 percent of the eight-year, four-month sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner. Cottrell was convicted in November 2004 of seven counts of arson and one of conspiracy. He was acquitted of the most serious charge, using a...

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...

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...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A graduate student was convicted Friday of setting fire to dozens of sport utility vehicles and causing more than $2 million in damage, but was cleared of the most serious charge against him. William Jensen Cottrell, 24, was found guilty in U.S. District Court of conspiracy to commit arson and seven counts of arson. But the jury acquitted him of attempting to use a destructive device in a crime of violence - Molotov cocktails - a charge that carried a sentence of at least 30 years in prison. He will be sentenced March 12, and faces...

-- A federal judge refused Monday to toss out a charge that could lead to a minimum 30-year prison term for a Caltech grad student implicated in a multimillion-dollar "eco-arson" spree at SUV dealerships. William Jensen Cottrell, 24, is charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson and the use of a destructive device in a violent crime. The latter charge carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years in federal prison if Cottrell is convicted -- far longer than he would face if convicted only of the other charges. The defense employed a number of legal arguments to try to persuade...

A Caltech graduate physics student pleaded innocent today to firebombing and vandalizing more than 100 sports utility vehicles in a suspected protest attack by a radical environmentalist movement against the gas-guzzling vehicles. William Cottrell, 23, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., pleaded not guilty to the charges laid out in a nine-count indictment. Cottrell could face more than 30 years in prison if he is convicted. According to the indictment, Cottrell and "other known and unknown co-conspirators" went on a spree of firebombing and vandalizing sports utility vehicles in the Los Angeles area in...

<p>A California Institute of Technology graduate student was arrested Tuesday in connection with last summer's vandalism of 125 sport utility vehicles and fires set at a San Gabriel Valley auto dealership in apparent support of the Earth Liberation Front, the FBI said.</p>

Caltech Graduate Student Arrested in SUV Arson, Vandalism Spree By Greg Risling Associated Press Writer Published: Mar 9, 2004 LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California Institute of Technology graduate student was arrested Tuesday in connection with an August arson and vandalism spree targeting 125 sports utility vehicles at four car dealerships, the FBI said. William Cottrell, 23, used an alias when he e-mailed The Los Angeles Times, claiming to be a member of the eco-terrorist group Earth Liberation Front and offering specific details to prove his involvement in the firebombings, the FBI said. "The FBI hasn't seemed to pick...