Zach Jensen pleads guilty agrees to cooperate

Second guilty plea in alleged

plot to blow up Forest Service lab

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - A second suspect has pleaded guilty to plotting to
blow up a U.S. Forest Service genetics lab and other targets, federal
prosecutors said Wednesday.

Zachary Jenson, 20, of Monroe, Wash., pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy late Tuesday in what the FBI alleges was an eco-terrorist
plot to be carried out in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. The
shadowy, loose-knit group of environmental activists has claimed credit
for arsons in recent years throughout the West, often at construction
sites.

In May, Lauren Weiner, 20, of Pound Ridge, N.Y., also pleaded guilty
to conspiracy. The convictions carry potential sentences of five to 20
years in federal prison.

Both Weiner and Jenson agreed to cooperate with investigators as part
of their plea bargains. That includes testifying against Eric McDavid,
28, of Foresthill, the alleged leader of the plot.

They were arrested Jan. 13 as they allegedly bought bomb-making
materials at a Kmart in Auburn, east of Sacramento.

Three days before their arrests, the three allegedly scouted the
Nimbus Dam and nearby fish hatchery on the American River near
Sacramento, and the Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics
near Placerville.

They didn't know an undercover FBI informant had infiltrated the
group. The FBI secretly rented a cabin for the group in Dutch Flat,
outside Auburn, and wired the building for audio and video surveillance.

Weiner is free on bond as she awaits sentencing on Aug. 8. A hearing
is set for Friday to decide if Jenson should be released before his Oct. 3
sentencing. McDavid remains in custody pending his court hearing the same day.