07/21/2006
Three More Defendants Plead Guilty to Arson and Conspiracy charges in Association with Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front
EUGENE,OREGON–Today in U.S. District Court in Eugene, STANISLAS GREGORY MEYERHOFF (age 29), CHELSEA DAWN GERLACH (age 29) and SUZANNE NICHOLE SAVOIE (age 28) entered guilty pleas to criminal conspiracy and related arson charges that occurred from 1996 through 2001 in Oregon and four other Western states. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken accepted the pleas and set sentencings for December 14, 2006.
Guilty pleas by these defendants followed similar guilty pleas by co-defendants KEVIN TUBBS, KENDALL TANKERSLEY and DARREN TODD THURSTON yesterday (see Press Release dated 7/20/06).
All six of these defendants acted in a cell of underground groups known as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). In their guilty pleas, the defendants acknowledged that they and their group sought to influence and affect the conduct of government, private business, and the civilian population through force, violence, sabotage, mass destruction, intimidation and coercion, and to retaliate against government and private businesses by similar means.
In addition to admitting participation in the overall conspiracy, MEYERHOFF, GERLACH and SAVOIE pled guilty to active participation in the following specific crimes:
STANISLAS GREGORY MEYERHOFF:
–Arson, Childers Meat Company; Eugene, Oregon; May 9, 1999;
–Arson, Boise Cascade Company; Monmouth, Oregon; December 25, 1999;
–Destruction of Energy Facility, Bonneville Power Administration high-voltage tower; near Bend, Oregon; December 30, 1999;
–Arson, Eugene Police Department West University Public Safety Station; Eugene, Oregon; September 6, 2000;
–Arson, Superior Lumber Company; Glendale, Oregon; January 2, 2001;
–Arson, Joe Romania Chevrolet Truck Center (35 vehicles); Eugene, Oregon; March 30, 2001;
–Arson, Jefferson Poplar Farm; Clatskanie, Oregon; May 21, 2001.
MEYERHOFF also acknowledged his participation in arsons at the Vail Ski Facility in Eagle County, Colorado, on October 19, 1998. He will plead guilty to multiple counts of arson in that case upon its transfer from the District of Colorado to the District of Oregon.
CHELSEA DAWN GERLACH:
–Arson, Childers Meat Company; Eugene, Oregon; May 9, 1999;
–Arson, Boise Cascade Company; Monmouth, Oregon; December 25, 1999;
–Destruction of Energy Facility, Bonneville Power Administration high-voltage tower; near Bend, Oregon; December 30, 1999;
–Arson, Eugene Police Department West University Public Safety Station; Eugene, Oregon; September 6, 2000;
–Arson, Jefferson Poplar Farm; Clatskanie, Oregon; May 21, 2001.
GERLACH also acknowledged her participation in arsons at the Vail Ski Facility in Eagle County, Colorado, on October 19, 1998. She will plead guilty to multiple counts of arson in that case upon its transfer from the District of Colorado to the District of Oregon.
SUZANNE NICHOLE SAVOIE:
–Arson, Superior Lumber Company; Glendale, Oregon; January 2, 2001;
–Arson, Jefferson Poplar Farm; Clatskanie, Oregon; May 21, 2001.
In addition to the above crimes, the overall conspiracy included similar arsons and attempted arsons at the U.S. Forest Service Detroit Ranger Station in Marion County, Oregon, on October 28, 1996; the U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station at Oakridge, Oregon, on October 30, 1996; the Cavel West, Inc., horse-rendering facility in Redmond, Oregon, on July 21, 1997; the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Facility near Burns, Oregon, on November 30, 1997; the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in Olympia, Washington, on June 21, 1998; the BLM Wild Horse Holding Facility in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on October 11, 1998; U.S. Forest Industries, Medford, Oregon, on December 22 and 27, 1998; the University of Washington Horticulture Center in Seattle, Washington, on May 21, 2001; and the BLM Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Facility near Susanville, California, on October 15, 2001.
MEYERHOFF, GERLACH and SAVOIE have agreed to cooperate and provide assistance to the government in the investigation and prosecution of other co-conspirators involved in arson, conspiracy and related crimes.
Each count of arson and attempted arson carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years up to a maximum of 20 years. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. Destruction of an energy facility carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The case was jointly investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Eugene Police Department, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Oregon State Police, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Division.
The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall in Eugene, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ray in Eugene, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen F. Peifer in Portland. For further information, contact Diane Peterson, Public Information Officer, at 503-727-1066.
