Student Gets Eight Years for Eco-Vandalism
 

Student Gets Eight Years for Eco-Vandalism
Tuesday, April 19, 2005

LOS ANGELES — A Caltech graduate student convicted of helping to firebomb scores of sport utility vehicles was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution.

A federal judge Monday rejected William Jensen Cottrell's plea for leniency.

"There's no way I'd ever be involved in anything like this again," Cottrell said. "I won't ever even jaywalk again."

However, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner said Cottrell had engaged in domestic terrorism and "we're very, very lucky" that no one was killed in the arson attacks.

Cottrell, 24, was convicted in November of conspiracy to commit arson and seven counts of arson for an August 2003 vandalism spree that damaged and destroyed about 125 SUVs at dealerships and homes in the San Gabriel Val ley east of Los Angeles.

Cottrell was acquitted of using a destructive device — Molotov cocktails — in a crime of violence. That was the most serious charge he faced and it carried a sentence of at least 30 years in prison.

At his trial, the prosecution had accused Cottrell of "arrogance" and a "towering superiority" toward people who did not share his environmental views. Cottrell had testified that SUV dealers were evil.


The judge said he felt sorry for Cottrell, a doctoral candidate in the physics department at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, but he had only himself to blame.

"What a talent to have wasted," Klausner said.

Vandals used spray-paint to deface the vehicles with slogans such as "Fat, Lazy Americans," "polluter" and "ELF," for Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group.

Prosecutors estimated the total damage at $2.3 million.

Defense lawyers argued that Cottrell had agreed with two friends to spray-paint vehicles, but was surprised when they began to hurl Molotov cocktails.

Federal prosecutors have identified former Caltech students Tyler Johnson and Michie Oe as "fugitive co-conspirators" in the case. It is believed that both have fled the country.

Cottrell was arrested in March 2004 after authorities tracked e-mails sent to the Los Angeles Times. The sender said he was involved in the SUV attacks and affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front.





*************my opinion***************
this guy got let off easy, why dont they punish these whackos. if you dont agree with this countries policies change them, dont go around burning things up. If you are an ego-terrorist your an idiot. If you think we are wasting the earths eco-system try to change things (good luck though)

ELF 4 LYFE

SUVs are retarded. I hate sitting at a give way sign turning and a huge fucking SUV pulls up right next to me, turning the opposite direction, blocking out my ENTIRE view of oncoming traffic. Forcing me to WAIT until they go first.

They're just a waste of size and resources. Who the fuck is scaling terrain rocky enough in the city that they need one of these fucking tanks....?

[quote="TGB!":416d7]. . .So because of that they deserve to be potential targets for Eco-Terrorists?
[/quote:416d7]

....LOL. No way - I never said that. That guy is obviously a fucking psycho fruitcake. I do feel his pain though.

8 years is a long stretch, but he is lucky no one got hurt. SUVs suck, but this guys an idiot for doing what he did.

I would have just taped a banner to the window, my protest WOULD have been SOOO HEARD.

Yea, burn all the metal and rubber and plastic and oil in the cars, that'll save the environment oOo: oOo:

God I hate these holier than thou types annoy:

The less SUVs the better.

Shitty for the air (honestly i don't care), shitty on gas and shitty to drive.

But they are Sport Utility Vehicles. ed:

I just hate driving them.

damn 8 years fed time spank:

HAW HAW!! The toxic chemicals that he released in burning the plastic, etc are probably harder on the atmosphere than the air pollution that the cars would have caused.