Court won't hear appeal by arsonist

June 09, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday in Washington, D.C., it will not consider an appeal of the prison sentence of an arsonist who pleaded guilty to torching a Medford timber company office.

Kendall Tankersley, 31, of Arizona pleaded guilty in 2006 to arson and attempted arson of a U.S. Forest Industries Inc. office on Whittle Avenue in Medford in December 1998. She appealed her 41-month sentence. The blaze caused damage estimated at $500,000.

She argued her sentence was excessive because she was one of the least culpable of those arrested.

Tankersley and nine others were convicted in federal court in Eugene of a conspiracy involving 20 arsons in five Western states from 1996 through 2001 which authorities estimated caused some $27.8 million in damage.

Some were linked to the Earth Liberation Front while others were believed to be part of the Animal Liberation Front.

source: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090609/NEWS/906090308