Darren Thurston Sentencing Report

by Gumby Cascadia

5/29/07

Darren Thurston Sentencing

Government Arguments

Darren plead guilt to one count of Conspiracy in Oregon,
and one count of Arson in the Eastern District of
California for the Litchfield Wild Horse Corral action.

Asst. US Atty Stephen Peiffer opened the government's
arguments by recalling Thurston's history as a radical
environmentalist, saying that at age 20 he became involved
in the radical animal rights movement and remained active
till his arrest at age 36. Pieffer said that in 1991, he
was involved in the burning of three trucks at a fish
company, and a cat liberation (with David Barbarash) at the
U. of Alberta. Pieffer said that in 1994, he went illegally
to an Earth First! gathering in California where he met
Jonathan Paul and Kevin Tubbs, and that in 1996 he met with
Paul at an anti-fur protest in Seattle. He said that during
that time, he also met Gina Lynn, whom he called an "animal
rights extremist", and that the two did reconnaissance on
fur farms in Oregon, Washington and California. That year,
Thurston also published the first edition of "The Final
Nail" , which Pieffer referred to as the "Bible" for animal
rights "extremists", (which Thurston said he'd researched
for 500 hours to produce) and which listed fur farms in the
US and Canada. He said that Thurston also posted
instructions for incendiary devices on the internet and
updated the site with new fur farms, with help from Joseph
Dibee.

Pieffer went on to say that Thurston did recon and planning
for the 1997 BioDevices beagle liberation in Orange,
California, and helped plan an arson at a San Diego
taxidermist and meat company that was called off because
the team was sighted by a homeless person. In 1998,
Thurston was arrested and deported to Canada. In 1999, he
became official spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front,
where, until he passed the job on in 2001, he publicized
100-200 communiques which Peiffer said was relevant to his
conspiracy charge.

He said in 2005, Thurston hosted a website on security and
"dead drops" (the sharing of unsent emails through a common
account), and that he authored "ALF: A Guide to Direct
Action and the ALF" and "Arson Around with Auntie ALF", a
manual on how to commit arson, which he distributed widely
and posted on the internet, encouraging future arsons.
Thurston began planning arsons with Craig Rosebraugh,
including US Forest Industries, and worked together to
finalize the press release on the Vail action. Pieffer said
Thurston mediated the dispute over the Jefferson Poplar
communique, and met Chelsea Gerlach at that time (see
Chelsea's sentencing notes for details).

As to Thurston's role in the Litchfield arson, Peiffer said
that Joseph Dibee contacted Thurston and Rebecca Rubin
about the action. He said that Thurston was also interested
in Chelsea Gerlach, and thought maybe they'd meet again for
the action. Thurston and Rubin illegally crossed the border
and were picked up by Jennifer Kolar and brought to meet
with Dibee to discuss the arson. Thurston expressed that he
only wanted to be involved in the horse releases, and not
the arsons themselves. He helped prepare for the action,
setting up clean rooms to do so, and during the act itself,
cut the fences and tried the herd the horses outside the
fence, but had difficulty getting them to leave the corral.
Peiffer said that Thurston aided and abetted the arson, and
that the communique was coercive toward the BLM, and so the
government was seeking the terrorism enhancement for the
crime.

In 2005, he was arrested with Gerlach, with whom he was
"romantically and criminally" involved. Pieffer said that
he had been involved in numerous crimes prior to his
arrest: selling drugs, illegal border crossings and
illegally dwelling in the US. He said the Thurston and
Gerlach had lived in San Francisco and Portland together,
and that Gerlach had purchased firearms for Thurston at gun
shows. He acquired fraudulent IDs from Tubbs and lived
under the name Ian Holiday, and used a stolen credit card
to purchase a computer. In 2003, he helped plan an action
against a predator research center in Utah, and buried a
cache of weapons with Gerlach. Pieffer then recounted how
Thurston had been involved in demonstrating the use of HMTD
(explosive) to a representative of the Zapatistas in
Redway, CA.

Peiffer then said the government was asking for Thurston to
he sentenced to 37 months, after conferring with the
District of California prosecutor in the Ted Kaczinski case
who agreed that the sentence, although appearing low, was
just in a case where the defendant had cooperated so
extensively. He said that Thurston was offered a
substantial reduction for his minor role, and because he
was only interested in releasing horses and being there for
Chelsea. He said that Thurston had provided information
about a "whole array of activities and other people",
beyond what was called for in this investigation. The
government's sentencing recommendation offered a 4 point
downward departure for "minimum role". Judge Aiken
interjected that Peiffer didn't need to argue that the
sentence was just... that Thurston was lucky it did not
depart upwards. Pretrial had asked that Thurston only be
offered a downward departure of 2 points for "minor role",
instead of the 4 point downward the government had
recommended.

Defense Arguments

Defense attorney Dan Feiner started his argument by asking
the court to remove the government's categorization of
Thurston as a "white supremacist", mistakenly added by the
government who do not know the distinction between Aryans
and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, of which Thurston
had been a part during a protest against Aryan Nation
founder Metzger. The judge ruled that she would take it
under advisement  with regards to the sentencing
recommendation.

Feiner argued against the terrorism enhancement as ex post
facto (that the enhancement was amended with the predicate
crimes after the date of the conspiracy in 2001). He showed
a photo of the Litchfield corral, that was really no more
than "a hay barn in the desert" and pointed out where
Thurston had cut the fences. He then addressed why Darren
took a little while to cooperate, and explained that at the
time of his arrest, he was only charged with INS
violations, and didn't know if he was being charged with
Litchfield. When Gerlach began cooperating and informed
Thurston that she had spilled the beans on him, Thurston
asked his attorney to pass along the message to Gerlach
through her attorney that he understood and was okay with
it even though it was detrimental to him. Feiner went on to
describe the "moving" meeting between Gerlach and Thurston,
who were never allowed a private conversation but were able
to hold hands. Feiner said that Gerlach's urging him
doesn't negate Thurston's decision to cooperate.  He said
the decision was drastic change of life for Thurston, that
he had removed himself from all ties with the ALF/ELF, and
would never be allowed to reintegrate because of his
cooperation. Fiener said Thurston's role as "senior
statesman" for the movement was over, and that he had
withdrawn and resigned in all ways. He described Thurston's
lawful activist roles, citing his involvement with Bear
Watch in Canada, his teaching of computer skills to
children, and his part in The Compassion Club in British
Columbia working with terminally ill people. He said that
since his arrest, Thurston has been studying for a vocation
and wants to give back what he took from society. He looks
forward to returning to Canada.
Feiner then read a letter from supporter Elaine Budlong who
has been a weekly visitor of Thurston's since his arrest.
In it, she wrote about how age makes you see things in
other than "black and white". Feiner ended by saying that
he wouldn't ask for a further reduction in sentence than
the government's recommended 37 months, and that his client
had been treated with respect.

Thurston then read his statement to the court, in which he
commented to the judge that she had often used the phrase
"actions speak louder than words" in these hearings, which
was an axiom he had "lived by" for many years. He said that
he did not blame others for his actions, and that all his
actions had always been informed by the belief that all
life is sacred. He said he realized arson created a danger
for firefighters and that he has resigned from the ALF/ELF
with no intent to ever go back in the future. He described
his life experience: creating programs for kids, being a
librarian, working on behalf of dolphins, and against
trophy hunting and poaching. He said he had worked on
behalf of the forests, against racism and bigotry, and on
behalf of the poor and terminally ill. He said that his
actions with the ALF/ELF had diminished all the positive
work he had done. He promised that when released from
prison, he would continue to act for social change, but in
legal ways.

Judge Aiken responded by saying that no words he could say
would change the agreed upon resolution. She said he was
"gifted and bright", but that he had "squandered his impact
as a leader". She said he had been sidetracked and "lured"
into other activities, that he didn't pursue his education.
She referred to the letter from Elaine Budlong, agreeing
with her assessment that the world is much more complicated
in the full context. She then said, "You're a CANADIAN.
Aren't there any problems up there? Why come here to start
problems? Take care of your OWN place, first. Don't be
coming down here to start problems in OUR neck of the
woods." She said "you're getting a sweet deal" and she
hopes he gets a "do-over". She then read a passage from
Thurgood Marshall's "A Defiant Life", whose message was
that we are a "nation of laws" and that if laws are unjust,
in a democracy there are legal means to go about changing
them. She bemoaned the use of the Boston Tea Party as an
analogy to the crimes of property destruction, asserting
that the Boston Tea Party was about "taxation without
REPRESENTATION" and said, "Ya'll HAD representation and
could have worked through the government. None of you
bothered to study this. While you were out releasing
animals, Marshall was out freeing humans," she said. [No
mention of the Underground Railroad... I'm just sayin'...]
She said she would hold him accountable for all his
unlawful actions to date, and that it was tragic to hold
Thurston as "anything but a courageous person". As to his
cooperation, she said that "those who truly love you will
be there when you get out", and that it took time for him
to cooperate because he had a lot of "terrible family
secrets" to let go of. She then listed the sentencing
calculations and said that she would entertain no downward
departures because of his "scary past".

Judge Aiken sentenced Darren Thurston to 37 months, and did
not apply the terrorism enhancement due to the remote
location of the horse corral.