Women plead guilty in UW fire

TACOMA – Two women who helped carry out an ecoterrorism firebombing at the University of Washington pleaded guilty to felony charges Wednesday in deals that could drastically reduce their prison time.

Jennifer Kolar, 33, of Seattle, and Lacey Phillabaum, 31, of Spokane, were released without bail after entering the pleas in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Authorities said the two turned themselves in and have cooperated with ongoing investigations.

Neither woman commented to reporters after leaving the courtroom.

Federal prosecutors said they were part of a five-person team behind the May 21, 2001, firebombing that destroyed the UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture. The blaze, one of the Northwest’s most notorious acts of ecoterrorism, caused some $7 million in damage.

The center had done work on fast-growing hybrid poplars in hopes of limiting the amount of natural forests that timber companies log. The Earth Liberation Front, a collection of environmental activists, claimed responsibility five days after the fire, issuing a statement saying the poplars pose “an ecological nightmare” for the diversity of native forests.

After the hearings, U.S. Attorney John McKay said the conspirators had “the misguided belief that they would influence public policy. They have not.

“These violent acts of destruction are not a valid form of political speech,” he said, calling the arson an act of domestic terrorism.

Kolar and Phillabaum each pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, arson and use of a destructive device.

Kolar also pleaded guilty to an attempted arson charge for a failed 1998 firebombing that damaged a Wray, Colo., gun club that organized a multistate turkey shoot.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will ask U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess to waive mandatory minimum sentences on the charges of arson, attempted arson and use of a destructive device. That bomb charge alone would otherwise carry a statutory minimum of 30 years, and a maximum term of life.

The plea deal instead will ask that Kolar serve five to seven years. Phillabaum will face a recommended sentence of three to five years. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5.

The two women also will not face additional prosecution for other attacks, including Phillabaum’s admitted role in destroying 5 acres of canola in Eastern Washington and Kolar’s alleged part in arsons in Oregon in 1997 and California in 2001.

Authorities allege three others were primarily involved in the UW firebombing.

Briana Waters, of Berkeley, Calif., has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in May. William Rodgers, of Prescott, Ariz., committed suicide in jail after being charged with other acts of ecoterrorism.

Authorities Wednesday said the fifth person named in the case, Justin Solondz, formerly of Jefferson County, Wash., is still at large.

Kolar remained composed during Wednesday’s hearing, answering “Yes, your honor” to a series of routine questions about her understanding of the plea deal. She and attorney Michael Martin declined comment outside the courtroom, and Kolar turned her back on news reporters as she entered an elevator.

Phillabaum was more emotional in court, crying when she first spoke in response to Burgess’ questions about her age and education. She paused a few times to confer with her attorney, Gil Levy, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Friedman as he left the courtroom. Phillabaum declined to make any statement afterward.

The Justice Department has said a nine-year investigation into vandalism, arson and ecoterrorism eventually uncovered a conspiracy involving at least two dozen people who held secret meetings around the West to plan their attacks.

Most have been charged in Washington state or Oregon.