Briana Waters sentenced to 6 years for ELF arson

In the end, the 250 letters of support, an impassioned plea by her mother and Briana Waters' own tears did not spare her from prison for her role in the 2001 arson of the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. On June 19, the 32-year-old violin teacher was convicted of taking part in the firebombing seven years ago and was sentenced to six years in federal prison. U.S. District Court Judge Franklin Burgess also ordered Waters to pay $6 million in restitution and declined her lawyer's request that she be released on her own recognizance pending appeal. Waters was one of five people accused of setting the devastating May 2001 fire but the only one to go to trial. She was found guilty in March of two counts of arson. Two others–Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum–pleaded guilty and testified against her for reduced sentences. Her former boyfriend, Justin Solondz, is a fugitive. The attack was claimed by the radical Earth Liberation Front against a lab that they wrongly believed was doing genetic engineering on poplar tree. No one was hurt in the UW fire, but the building was destroyed. It cost $6.2 million to rebuild. A key to the sentencing hearing was whether the actions of Waters, who acted as a lookout and provided support to other suspects, rose to the level of terrorism. Federal prosecutors Andrew Friedman and Mark Bartlett asserted during a 3 1/2-week trial that Waters aided in planning, provided a car to the bombers and allowed Solondz to build firebombs in the garage of the Olympia home she rented. Prosecutors said all these factors, along with the intent of the ELF conspirators to intimidate the government to change its policies and actions, justify adding a "terrorism enhancement" in figuring her sentence. Although they could have asked for a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, they asked for 10 years. Waters' attorney, Neil Fox, questioned the government's use of the word "terrorist." "A lot of people's rights have been trampled in the war on terrorism," said Fox to an attentive judge. Fox had already shared with Burgess his view in court filings that the term terrorist "clearly has been manipulated by those seeking to advance their own political agendas." Fox argued that Waters should not be subjected to the terrorism enhancement because the jury had not found her guilty of conspiring with the other defendants in the case. And he said his client, who continues to maintain her innocence, had no motivation or intent to intimidate anyone in the alleged arson attack. "There is no evidence that she chose the target or that she even knew about or cared about" the botanical research taking place there. The government scoffed at that contention, while acknowledging that her actions didn't rise to the level of flying a plane into the side of New York City's World Trade Center. "Although Waters' crime is substantively different from, say, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a fact that is recognized in the United States' recommendation of a sentence far below" what could have been asked for, it's clear that it still meets the definition of terrorism, prosecutors said in court filings. Most of 10 ELF/ALF defendants sentenced recently in Oregon received the terrorism enhancement in sentencing. "I am not a terrorist," Waters told the court. "I do believe our planet is in need of healing but not through violence and force. I am not the person that the prosecution has painted this evil and negative picture of. I don't agree with property destruction or violence. I don't want to be a martyr for any cause. My cause is to take care of my family." Waters is the mother of a 3-year-old daughter. Many of the letters submitted in support of Waters suggested that she had been wrongfully convicted. However, Burgess said he read them all and wondered "how they could know... these things." Even though Burgess ultimately agreed with the government that Waters is a terrorist, he took into account the sentences levied or contemplated for other ELF/ALF defendants in deciding to send her to prison for six years.