Chelsea Gerlach Sentencing Notes

Chelsea Gerlach's Sentencing

Judge Ann Aiken began today's proceedings by commenting
that she was relieved to read in the news that suspects
from Portland's car arsons have been arrested and that
there appears to be no relation to the ELF or  eco-sabotage
motives.

Government Arguments

US Atty Stephen Peiffer began the government's arguments by
saying that Chelsea had been involved in arsons at Childers
Meat Co., Boise Cascade in Monmouth, West Eugene police
substation, Jefferson Poplar, BPA and Vail; and that the
arsons were intended to intimidate, coerce or retaliate
against government. He said that she had evolved into a
"very accomplished criminal" over her span of time in the
ELF cell.

He then spoke about Chelsea's introduction to radical
activism through Earth First!, saying that her father had
given her a copy of the EF! Journal, gave her a car, and
allowed her to drive to Cove Mallard, Idaho at age 16 to
participate in a direct action campaign. There she was
arrested for blocking a road, and there she met Bill
Rogers. He said the defense would try to argue that Chelsea
was led astray by Rogers, but that she couldn't blame him,
her parents, EF! or Meyerhoff for her actions, as her
criminal conduct continued even after 2001 when the cell
disbanded. At age 14, she spoke at the PIELC (Public
Interest Environmental Law Conference) in Eugene, and met
Meyerhoff at South Eugene High School in 1994. He said, at
the time, Meyerhoff was not an environmentalist and that
Chelsea led him down the road to extreme environmentalism.
Eventually she went to The Evergreen State College in
Olympia, WA, went to the Warner Creek in 1996, and another
direct action campaign in the Olympic National Forest in
1997.

He said that during her tenure as a civil disobedience
activist, she became frustrated at the ineffectiveness of
those campaigns. She then left school, moved in with
anarchists, and began to read Rogers' zines about
incendiary devices. At one point, she went to Mt. Graham
observatory (AZ) with Rogers who, as a test, planned with
her to shoot out the telescope lens. The plan was aborted
when they were discovered by security guards. Peiffer said
Chelsea developed "malice toward anyone who didn't live up
to her standards". In 1998, he said she drove to the BLM
Rock Springs, WY wild horse corral where horses were
released. Plans to torch the site were aborted when the
horses began to stampede toward the town of Rock Springs.

Peiffer then spoke about Vail, saying that Chelsea and
others' arson there did a huge disservice to the
legitimate, lawful opposition of groups that had been
fighting the expansion of the ski resort for years. (I
wanted to ask him if any of these groups were being
monitored or on their watchlists.) He said "they are her
victims, too" and that after the fire, the environmental
groups lost their lawsuit. He said Rogers recruited Gerlach
and Meyerhoff, and then Chelsea drove them in her truck to
Utah where they rented a hotel room to build their
destructive devices (which were abandoned when they
realized the cold and altitude of the site would hamper
them). They drove to Vail, up a narrow rutted road in the
snow and were unable to reach the summit, so they came back
down the mountain where Meyerhoff backed out of the
operation. Peiffer said Chelsea drove Rogers back up the
mountain then waited in the truck while Rogers hiked the
rest of the way on foot and lit the fuel by hand, torching
8 buildings spread over a 1.4 mile area at an elevation of
11, 250 ft., which he called "amazing". He said there was a
patrol member in the process of moving into the newly built
patrol building, but thankfully wasn't there yet. When
Rogers came back down the mountain, he was injured and
having difficulty walking, but Chelsea had slept in the
truck and was waiting for him. They then drove to Denver
and went to the library where they wrote and sent the
communique. Peiffer then showed slides of the resort
burning, the damage after the fire, and the approximate
spot Chelsea had spent the night and stashed supplies. He
said that for restitution purposes, damage was $12M, but
when costs of business lost and other expenses were added,
the total came to $24.5M. Peiffer asked that the terrorism
enhancement be applied.

Peiffer spoke about Childers Meat Co., where Chelsea did
recon, was a lookout and wrote the communique. Then he
spoke about The Boise Cascade office in Monmouth, where she
served as lookout and wrote and sent the communique from an
internet cafe (which was meant to intimidate and coerce the
government, so should get the terrorism enhancement). The
Bonneville Power Administration tower was an action that
Chelsea had researched to find a remote tower that was on
the main grid to L.A. He said the intent of that action was
to destroy electrical transmission to start Y2K troubles.
Destruction of an energy facility is one of the predicate
crimes for the federal terrorism law, so he asked for the
enhancement on this action.

He spent more time on the West Eugene Police Substation
attempted arson, saying that Gerlach chose the target, in a
mixed-use neighborhood next to a hospital, university and
businesses... with no regard for human life. He said she
chose the target because anarchists in Eugene wanted
revenge for street battles, jail time and pepper spray. He
said the team rented a motel room in Salem and built a
"clean room" to create the devices to be used, and that
Gerlach helped to assemble the devices and carried one to
the site in her backpack. Since the devices failed, he said
they sent no communique. He said, "There's no telling what
would have happened, if they had been successful and no one
had been hurt, they would have claimed victory." He asked
for the terrorism enhancement due to the fact that it was a
government building.

At the Jefferson Poplar Farm action, Peiffer asserted that
Chelsea did the research, connected Jefferson Poplar and
the University of Washington Horticulture Center to the
Tree Genetic Research Cooperative, a group working to share
research about genetically modified fast-growing poplar
trees. He said that what Chelsea didn't know was that by
the time they did the action, JPF had changed hands and it
was no longer engaged in genetic research. He stated that
Gerlach was involved in recon of the site with Meyerhoff
and Daniel McGowan, and that Gerlach and McGowan wrote the
communique. He said the language of the communique was
retaliatory to the Oregon and Washington legislatures, and
therefore should have the terrorism enhancement applied. He
said that after that action, Craig Rosebraugh, the ELF
press officer at the time, rewrote the comminque to omit
the reference to genetically modified trees, which angered
the group. Peiffer said members of the cell didn't trust
Rosebraugh. Dibee drove Chelsea to Vancouver, BC to talk to
Darren Thurston, whom Chelsea had not yet met. She asked
Thurston to convey the anger to Rosebraugh, which he did in
an email. Peiffer said Rosebraugh then drove to BC to talk
to Thurston, and told him he no longer wished to be press
officer.

Peiffer said Chelsea had attended five Book Club meetings
where discussions and workshops were held on constructing
devices and timers, encryption, and use of code, among
other things. These book club meetings took place in
Springfield, OR, Santa Cruz, Tucson, Olympia. The last was
in Sisters, OR, where things had begun to fall apart. He
said Chelsea's involvement at these five meetings showed
her deep involvement, a certain degree of leadership
("though we're not asking for a leadership departure"), and
that she was trusted and admired by the group.

He then mentioned her involvement in crimes she is
uncharged for, including an April, 2001 action to destroy
genetically engineered plants at Oregon State University.
He showed the communique, written by Gerlach, that was
addressed personally to the president of the Tree Genetic
Engineering Cooperative. Peiffer called it a
"sophisticated, well-researched document." Other uncharged
actions occurred at an Eastern Oregon genetically
engineered crop site, the Biolabs beagle rescue in Orange,
CA (which Peiffer called common thievery), and a 2001
break-in at a primate research facility in Arizona.

In 2002, Peiffer said, after the cell had disbanded, Joseph
Dibee gave Gerlach $10,000 to perform reconnaissance at oil
and high-tech sites around the country.

From 2001-2005, Peiffer said Gerlach was involved with
Darren Thurston, both romantically and criminally, selling
drugs to survive, creating fraudulent identification, and
purchasing firearms. He said she led agents, soon after
deciding to cooperate, to a cache of guns in the Siuslaw
National Forest. Peiffer said Thurston told the government
he and Chelsea had made and tested HMTD (an explosive) in
Portland, then drove to Redway, California where they met
with a representative of the EZLN (Zapatistas) and, using
7-10 grams of the substance, blew up a stump to
demonstrate. Peiffer railed for a moment about how Chelsea
had been harboring an illegal alien (Thurston), purchasing
weapons for him, and assisting him with illegal border
crossings, all criminal acts she was not being charged for.

He summed up by asking for 120 month sentence and
restitution to the sum of $16M.

Defense Arguments

Craig Weinermann, defense counsel for Gerlach, said he
wanted to focus on two things in his arguments: 1)How
Chelsea was introduced to radical action, and 2)The nature
of her cooperation. A DVD was submitted to the judge with
testimony from family and others. Weinerman asked that the
DVD not be played in open court, due to Chelsea's deep
concerns for her privacy. Aiken agreed that the DVD not be
shown in open court in front of the media. He said he
normally does not like to discuss cooperation in court, but
since it seemed very important to the court, he would. He
said that Chelsea cooperated not only when she was
arrested, but took extraordinary post-plea actions, when
she stood to gain nothing, to convince the other defendants
not to go to trial and to take pleas. Weinerman said the
government had not taken her exemplary cooperation into
consideration when compiling their sentencing
recommendation, so he would ask the judge to do justice by
downward departure.

He spoke about Bill Rogers for quite some time, and said he
had profoundly influenced Gerlach. He said he mentioned it
not by way of excuse, but in order to understand how
Chelsea came to be in the situation, it was necessary.
Gerlach was 16 when she met Rogers at Cove Mallard, Rogers
was 28. He said Gerlach looked to him as a mentor and
confidant, that she looked up to and admired him, and that
he exploited her, and recruited her into the so-called
"Family". He characterized Rogers as "The Mastermind" of
the whole cell, said that he recruited six of the members.
He said that if Chelsea hadn't met Rogers, she probably
would never have strayed beyond the boundaries of simple
civil disobedience in her actions.

He then showed slides of Chelsea as a child, always smiling
with her parents. Weinerman said he believed Chelsea had
grown up too fast, and was taught that environmental
degradation is immoral. He showed slides of her in the
student newspaper at South Eugene High School, speaking at
age 14 at the PIELC about civil disobedience, and said she
was deeply committed to finding non-violent solutions to
environmental degradation. He said she was raised with the
Earth First! Journal around the house where, at 16, she
read about Cove Mallard. Her father gave her a car and she
drove to Idaho to participate in the campaign, and stayed
for about two months. He said that most of the adults there
were supportive and protective of her... but not all. Bill
Rogers was 28, and he had a dark side. Weinerman said, "He
knew he could exploit her, and he began grooming her."
Chelsea went back to Eugene to graduate from high school.
Weinerman said, "The government says Chelsea dragged
Meyerhoff into the movement. We say, when they are both the
same age, within arm's length of each other, no one has
more power over the other. The way Chelsea was brought in
was NOT the same. Rogers had the power. Chelsea and
Meyerhoff evolved together." Chelsea went to The Evergreen
State College in Olympia where she became involved in
environmental groups, but she became frustrated with a
restless desire to do more, and called Rogers for advice.
He told her they were going to start a group that would
affect "real change". It was a destructive turn in
Chelsea's life. Rogers encouraged her to distance herself
from her family and social circle. In the spring of 1997,
Gerlach and Meyerhoff were living together in Phoenix, when
Rogers showed up and said, "We've got something big to do."
They drove to Colorado.

Weinerman said Rogers had recruited other young kids,
Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher. He said Rogers authored
the "Black Cat Sabotage Manual". He said there was more to
Rogers' dark side, and that at the Book Club meeting in
Olympia, the group discussed sexual abuse issues. He said
that in discussions with Chelsea's investigator, Paul
Brown, activists Kim Marks and Peg Millet had characterized
Rogers as a sexual predator.

As to Gerlach's level of cooperation, Weinerman said
Gerlach had not been as "compulsive" as Meyerhoff, and
waited to talk to counsel first. He said it was a very
difficult decision for Ms. Gerlach. He said she knew she
would be ostracized. At the time, 30 to life was being
threatened, he said, and when she asked, "What will happen
if I cooperate?" he said he couldn't give her an answer.
She had to trust people she really didn't trust, he said,
and she had to trust the government to treat her fairly. He
said, "There was also a concern that this case was being
politicized... that shots were being called in Washington."
He said her decision was "agonizing". He said, "She did
more than talk the talk, " saying anyone can apologize in
court, but that Chelsea was "walking the walk".

He then described how Chelsea had encouraged Darren
Thurston to cooperate. (Darren was in the courtroom.) They
met in Portland, and in the presence of federal agents,
prosecutors, attorneys, Chelsea made her plea with
Thurston. Weinerman then read notes from the meeting, in
which Chelsea said, "I'm speaking from my heart. I didn't
know if we'd ever see each other again. At first, I didn't
want to put people in jail, but then I realized... I could
be a martyr, or I could have a life. I chose a life." She
also said, "The mandatory minimums suck." She told Thurston
there that she had revealed to the government about the
guns and drugs, and said, "You have to tell them
everything. Do the right thing." Weinerman said that after
Gerlach entered her plea, she was concerned about the rest
of the defendants, so she arranged to meet with McGowan's,
Block's and Zacher's attorneys. She told them she was being
treated fairly, and that they should not go to trial and
face the mandatory minimums. Weinerman said the government
had mentioned Chelsea's influence had an effect, but their
sentencing recommendation did not reflect this. He asked
for no more than 72 months' sentence for Gerlach. He asked
that the judge write a letter recommending Chelsea be
housed at FCI Dublin (CA).

Co-counsel for Gerlach,  Mr. Ehlers, gave a statement, as
well. He said that he was there when Chelsea was arrested,
and had seen how difficult she was going to be. She didn't
trust him because he was a court-appointed lawyer. He said,
"I had to overcome her doubts." He said the change he had
seen in Gerlach was remarkable. That she struggled very
hard with the cooperation decision. He said that when she
decided to cooperate, he met with her for 16 hours at Lane
County Jail, and she did not like it. He said he had to
assure himself that when she met with the US Attorneys, she
would be truthful. When she finally did meet with them, he
said, "She embraced the role." He said he was amazed at her
ability to remember PGP passwords with over a dozen
alpha-numeric characters, and that when she went to the
Siuslaw National Forest with agents, dogs, and metal
detectors, it took her memory to find the cache of weapons.
He said she took a positive and caring attitude toward
others, and that her love of nature impressed him. He said
she was one of the kindest people he had ever defended. He
summed up by saying, "In stark terms, Bill Rogers was a
pedophile." He said it was the shame of being exposed that
led him to commit suicide, and that he had victimized
Chelsea in a way that would be with her the rest of her
life. He urged the judge to hand down a sentence that was
sufficient but not excessive.

Chelsea read a statement to the court in which she
apologized to the people hurt by her actions. She said her
beliefs were no excuse "for being so cavalier". She said
she took full responsibility for her choices, that she
doesn't blame her parents whom she loves very much. Her
voice broke when she said her parents had taught her that
violence was never a viable choice. She said by way of
explanation that for every piece of wilderness saved, so
many more were destroyed. She said she was glad to be
brought up with such a love of nature, but that she knew
she must adopt peaceful means to make change. She spoke
about her burgeoning spiritual practice, and her gratitude
at being given a chance to redeem herself. She said she has
plans to tutor in prison, and believes prison is a place
she could make some positive contributions.

Judge Aiken responded by saying she thought Gerlach's
statements were insightful and thoughtful. "You are
sentencing yourself to a better life." She said that most
people will come out of prison bitter, angry and likely to
re-commit. She said our obligation as a society is to see
that the people coming out of prison are people we can
embrace and welcome back into the community. She then read
an excerpt from a book (that I didn't catch the name of)
whose message was "service is the rent we pay for living".
She then berated Chelsea's parents for allowing a sixteen
year old to drive to Idaho alone and become prey to the
likes of Bill Rogers. She said, "That's not how you raise
children." She said she hopes people are listening, that if
parents don't stop being so self-absorbed she will be
seeing a lot more smart young people going away to prison.
About her job, she said, "If we don't believe in people,
this job would be nothing more than pushing paper. There
can be nothing more important than giving young people a
future and hope. You will be given a chance to rejoin the
community. However, you must be held accountable for your
crimes." She said Gerlach's crimes had caused fear and
destroyed people's property. She also said she hoped
Gerlach would choose more positive means to affect change
in the world. "The legitimate actions of the environmental
movement live under a cloud of suspicion in part because of
your actions." However, she noted Gerlach's extraordinary
cooperation, and said, "Your courage is noted."

She then sentenced Chelsea Gerlach to 9 yrs. The terrorism
enhancement was applied for Jefferson Poplar, WEPD, and
BPA.

Gerlach's lawyers moved that she be released pending
self-surrender, and the government did not object. However,
a representative from pre-trial services said that nothing
had changed from their perspective. Judge Aiken said she
was going to err on the side of caution and not allow it.
She said, "Someone needs to set boundaries, so I'm taking
the role of a parent and setting boundaries."