Saying she is unsure of the sincerity of his remorse, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken on Monday sentenced Daniel Gerard McGowan to seven years in federal prison for his role in a string of arsons by underground radical environmentalists. McGowan, 33, cited his work in community and social justice groups since leaving the underground in 2001 as evidence that he has rejected violence as a tactic to create change. His lawyers presented almost 500 pages of letters extolling his character and supporting his community activities on behalf of abused women, the poor, the imprisoned and the environment. However, prosecutors played tapes secretly recorded by an informant in 2005, in which McGowan seems to revel in past illegal deeds by extremists.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer documented McGowan's escalating pattern of illegal actions between 1997 and 2001, saying McGowan showed one side of his personality to family and friends but had another "that came out at night." McGowan primarily went after genetic engineering experiments, causing an incalculable loss of scientific data, Peifer said. In some cases, McGowan destroyed decades of scientific work, Peifer said. After moving from Eugene back to his native New York City, McGowan coordinated a project to harass delegates to the Republican National Convention in 2004, Peifer said. In a seven-minute statement to the judge, McGowan expressed regret and shame for frightening people and for causing job losses. He said he turned away from property destruction after moving to New York City after his second and final arson in 2001. McGowan pleaded guilty to conspiracy, 13 counts of arson and one of attempted arson for fires at a lumber company in Glendale and a tree farm in Clatskanie in 2001. As she did in earlier cases, Aiken ruled the tree farm attack an act of terrorism under federal law because it targeted government activity. She then recited the potential penalties under federal law, including a steep increase for the act of terrorism. Using her judicial power, Aiken also increased the penalty for the lumber company fire because she said it was meant to intimidate people. McGowan's potential sentence ranged from 17 1/2 years to more than 21 years. Aiken accepted the plea deal between the parties and then, using her authority, granted a further reduction. The sentence ends up being eight months less than what McGowan bargained for. He pleaded guilty only after prosecutors agreed not to require him to name other co-conspirators while confessing to his illegal actions. The unusual agreement helped to persuade three other defendants to settle their cases under identical terms to avoid lengthy trials. Aiken said her eight-month reduction is a reward for that effort. But Aiken was otherwise harsh in her assessment of McGowan, saying his supporters have built him into a hero, a political prisoner, someone persecuted by the government for his activism. "You are not a poster child for environmental or other causes. You are an arsonist," Aiken told him. "You are not a political prisoner, getting prosecuted for true activism. You committed arson. You created danger for other people and intended to intimidate and frighten others." After the hearing, McGowan's lawyers fired back, calling Aiken's terrorism ruling factually and legally flawed. Defense attorney Amanda Lee of Seattle said only Aiken and the prosecutors believe McGowan is a terrorist. McGowan said that, as a New Yorker, he is "deeply offended" by having the terrorism label applied to him. Defense lawyer Jeffery Robinson of Seattle reproached Aiken for failing to publicly repudiate Peifer's opening statement in the case last month in which Peifer compared the cell of environmental extremists with the Ku Klux Klan.
Robinson, who is black, was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1956. "Mr. Peifer lacks knowledge about things he discussed in that courtroom," Robinson said. "I know something of the Ku Klux Klan. I expect more from a United States judge."
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