Eugene, Ore. (AP) A federal judge has sentenced the first of ten members of a radical environmental group to 13 years in prison for fires, including one at the Vail ski resort in 1998.
In Oregon, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken today declared the fire and others like it acts of terrorism.
Twenty-nine-year-old Stanislas Meyerhoff has admitted to being part of a cell of the Earth Liberation front known as The Family. It was responsible for more than 20 arson fires from 1996 through 2001 in five western states that did $40 dollars in damage.
In a statement before being sentenced, Meyerhoff denounced the ELF.
Meyerhoff could have been given a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Aiken reduced that to 13 years, noting his cooperation with authorities.