Prosecutors call arson spree ‘terrorism’

EUGENE – A sentencing memorandum filed Friday by federal prosecutors says that arson and sabotage by 10 radical environmentalists convicted of setting fires across five Western states amounted to terrorism.

Six men and four women are awaiting sentencing before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken beginning May 22.

All were convicted for roles in the five-state arson campaign that left timber company offices, dozens of SUVs, meat companies, federal installations and a ski resort in smoldering ruins. The government estimates damages at more than $40 million.

But Eugene attorney Kelly Beckley, who represents defendant Daniel McGowan, told The Oregonian the defendants are neither “monster terrorists” nor “Osama bin Laden and friends.”

The government’s 148-page sentencing memo argues that the crimes qualify for the so-called “terrorism enhancement” that allows additional prison sentences.