Eco-Terrorists Sentenced

(Sacramento, California) Three eco-terrorists were sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court for their direct involvement in the attempted firebombings of buildings under construction.

From SacBee.com:

Ryan Daniel Lewis, the 22-year-old admitted adherent of the Earth Liberation Front - a radical group that targets suburban development - was sentenced to six years in federal prison for orchestrating arsons in Placer and Amador counties in late 2004 and early 2005.

Two of his acquaintances, sisters Lili Marie Holland, 21, and Eva Rose Holland, 26, were sentenced to two years each in prison. In an earlier plea agreement, the women faced three years and three months behind bars.

Another individual, 21-year-old Jeremiah Colcleasure, pleaded guilty in the case. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia said Lewis was the recruiter who brought the others into the scheme to commit violence.

In October, however, Lewis and the Holland sisters pleaded guilty as part of an agreement reached with the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Steven Lapham.

They were sentenced Friday on charges reached in their plea agreements: two counts of attempted arson and one count of arson against Lewis; one count each of attempted arson for the Holland sisters.

The case is the first successful prosecution of Earth Liberation Front (ELF) criminals in northern California. Hopefully, the government will continue to be successful in prosecuting the ELF.