Ecoterror arsonist pleads guilty

TACOMA – A man accused of helping burn down the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture pleaded guilty Tuesday to arson and conspiracy charges.

Justin Solondz faces a seven-year prison term as part of a deal with prosecutors when he is sentenced March 16.

Prosecutors say Solondz built the firebombs that started the blaze in 2001 in Seattle. Solondz was arrested in Chicago last summer following his expulsion from China, where he had been serving a prison sentence on drug charges.

The fire, which resulted in $6 million of damage, was part of a string of 17 arsons across the West by radical environmental groups, the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. Fourteen other people have been convicted of crimes related to the fires.