Snitches

Snitches and Informers

Nothing is more harmful to the animal liberation movement than snitching. By assisting the government in their hunt for liberators, the snitch condemns the animals to lives of suffering and death. The snitch pledges allegiance to law enforcement and the status quo to protect him or herself, condemning their comrades to prison in order to save their own skin.

To snitch is to commit violence against countless animals and their human allies. The snitch attempts to destroy the animal liberation community out of their own selfish cowardice.

Snitches can never re-integrate, and can never be forgiven for their betrayal. The animal liberation movement will forever keep tabs on snitches and remind them: You are the lowest form of life and you have joined the ranks of the animal abusers. Expect to be treated as such.

Undercover police officer Bob Lambert ‘planted Debenhams firebomb’

 

Retired FBI Special Agent (aka snitch) Dana Ridenour used her real life undercover experiences in writing “Behind the Mask.”

Retired FBI Special Agent Dana Ridenour used her real life (not) undercover experiences in writing “Behind the Mask.”

 

Dana Ridenour, aka Dana Riley
Former FBI Agent Pens Novel Based on Fictional Experiences in the Animal Rights Movement

Press Office note: Dana Ridenour (aka Dana Riley) tried to infiltrate the animal rights community in several places in California and possibly elsewhere. The whole book discussed below in this Huffington Post Puff Piece is based on a lie; this so-called FBI agent never infiltrated the ALF, but posed as an animal rights campaigner for a year or two before being called out by activists. That’s it. Fortunately, no activist ever really suffered from her largely incompetent efforts, but she is no less the snitch. Here is her personal website, in case anyone is interested: http://danaridenour.net/index.html. She may live in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Huffington Post
March 28, 2016

Ever since Donnie Brasco, the story of the FBI agent who went undercover to infiltrate the American Mafia, America has not had a glimpse into the minds of undercover operatives who work in our country every day.

Now there is “Behind the Mask,” by retired FBI agent Dana Ridenour, a novel about FBI agent Lexie Montgomery, that will take readers into the Bureau’s undercover program. Montgomery’s first assignment is infiltrating a radical cell of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), an underground organization operating in splinter groups throughout Los Angeles.

One of the mottos of the FBI undercover training program is ‘you create relationships to betray them.’ This becomes all too real as Montgomery becomes entrenched in the radical under world.

Montgomery infiltrates the radical organization by befriending Savannah Riley, a new recruit.

Savannah left the safety of her small southern town for the bright lights of the city. Pulled into the animal rights movement by her college roommate and a gorgeous anarchist, she sinks deeper and deeper into the dark, paranoid world of ALF extremists.

As the actions of her cell escalate beyond simple demonstrations and graffiti, Savannah turns to Lexie to keep her grounded. But as the two women grow closer and the FBI’s case builds, Lexie is forced to decide what betrayal really means.

The novel is exciting, thought provoking, and left me wondering what might happen next. When Dana Ridenour decided to publish her premiere novel, her manuscript had to go through a pre-publishing review process with the FBI to insure that she was not disclosing any trade secrets. “I was held to a little different standard because of my affiliation with the FBI. For example, I was not allowed to use a photo of the FBI seal on the cover,” Ridenour says. Ridenour’s mother inspired her to write.

“She encouraged me to keep a journal when I became an FBI Agent. I started keeping a journal when I began working undercover. I was afraid the targets might find the journal, so I kept it hidden in the ceiling panels of my undercover apartment,” says Ridenour.

Those journals were a big part of formulating the novel’s characters, as were her personal experiences undercover.

“Undercover agents have to learn to compartmentalize their emotions, which takes a little practice. When an agent is new to working undercover, it can be difficult to not get lost in the role. A good undercover agent relies on his or her contact agent to keep him or her grounded in reality. So, in a way Lexie (Montgomery) is based largely on my experiences as an FBI agent.”

To learn more about Ridenour or the read the book yourself, visit her website, or author page on Amazon.


Jake Ferguson – Informer & Snitch

Jacob “Jake” Ferguson (DOB: ~1972)
178 Terra Linda Ave.
Eugene, OR 97404

Informant Status: Court records indicate that by spring 2004, Ferguson was wearing a hidden recording device in an effort to bait others, into incriminating themselves. He admitted in a cooperating agreement in 2007 that he set fire to the US Forest Service Ranger Station in Detroit, OR and a government pickup in 1996. He admitted to being granted immunity plus $50,000 for his cooperation, and received 5 years probation. Ferguson, searched out others and had them recount experiences while he was wearing a recording device. The recordings provided investigators the evidence that they needed to convict Daniel McGowan, Jonathan Paul, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block (who all received sentences of 5-7 years). Ferguson wore the hidden recorder to the 2005 annual Earth First! gathering, to the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon, and to meetings with six of his former partners, by then scattered across the country. FBI and Forest service special agents were possibly tracking him since 1996, when an accomplice at the Detriot Ranger station fire left a Slingshot organizer phone book in a local phone booth. Ferguson was under surveillance for nearly 5 years when a roommate assumed he had stolen her truck after an argument, reported it stolen and filed a restraining order against him, putting him further on the police radar. He was using heroin heavily by 2003, when feds contacted Ferguson and lied to him about people within the community linking him to the Romania fire and other arsons. That, ostensibly, is when Ferguson agreed to cooperate. He was never indicted for the over 15 acts of sabotage he admitted and he may have been financially compensated for his cooperation.  After testing positive for opiates on 3/29/11, he was incarcerated for violating probation. On 7/14/11, Ferguson was charged in state court with manufacture, delivery, possession of heroin, cocaine, methadone, and others; child neglect and child endangerment. For this violation, Ferguson received 22 months in prison (the bottom end of range), and Judge Ann Aiken made his sentence concurrent (meaning he will serve both sentences at the same time).

Current information: (updated July 2023) Ferguson was released from prison, where he was incarcerated on drug charges, in early 2015 and resides at the above address. He may be easily recognized by a pentagram tattoo on his forehead.


Joshua Ellerman (updated July 2023)
Age: 44
4717 S 3040 W
Taylorsville, UT 84129-2507

“I knew I could get some time if I got caught, but I didn’t know it could be for the rest of my life,” Douglas Joshua Ellerman said before U.S. District Judge Thomas Greene.Attorneys for three animal-rights activists charged with bombing the Fur Breeder’s Cooperative in Sandy have said their clients are only in court because Ellerman, 21, was desperate to implicate others to avoid a 35-year minimum prison sentence.

Josh Ellerman said that he, Gautschy, Bishop and Alexander Slack — who committed suicide — broke into the co-op on March 11, 1997.

Clinton Colby Ellerman (updated July 2023)
Age: 46
2988 S 9100 W
Magna, UT 84044-1019

Colby Ellerman confessed to building the five bombs and pleaded guilty to charges of making a pipe bomb, malicious destruction with a bomb and using a bomb in an act of violence. But he said he didn’t think they would actually be used.


 Stanislas “Stan” Gregory Meyerhoff, also went by “Jack” (DOB: ~1977)

Age: 45
8450 E Valley View Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85250-6751

Informant Status: (updated July 2023) Meyerhoff was the first of the group called “The Family” to be sentenced, and the first to snitch once arrested. Charged with May 1999 arson at Childers Meat Co. in Eugene; 1999 arson at Boise Cascade office in Monmouth, OR; toppling of a Bonneville Power Administration tower; arson at the Eugene Police Department West University Public Safety Station; arson at Superior Lumber Co., in Glendale, OR; arson of sport utility vehicles at a Eugene car dealership; arson of Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie. He admitted guilt in his first hearing in front of an arraignment judge. Meyerhoff eventually pleaded guilty in a cooperating agreement to conspiracy and arson charges in a string of 20 fires that did $40 million worth of damage in five states, including a 1998 fire at the Vail ski resort in Colorado. Meyerhoff, who admitted to fashioning the devices to start the fires, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.  After the group disbanded in 2001, Meyerhoff enrolled in college in Virginia, where he studied engineering. 

Current Information: coming soon.


Jen kolar - Snitch

Jen Kolar – Snitch

Jennifer Lynn Kolar
aka “Diver,” (DOB: ~1973)
2015 E. Newton St.
Seattle, WA 98112

May be married to Darin Dix, who is COO of the company Jen Kolar works at, Monsoon Solutions.

Informant Status: Took a cooperating agreement pleading guilty to charges in connection with the firebombing at the University of Washington.  She turned herself in to federal agents in Washington sometime around early 2006.

Current Information: (Updated July 2023) She was released on 2-01-2013.  Since she was often the ‘computer security expert’ for the groups she worked with she may be working in this field. For the years prior to arrest, she spent much of her time sailing and racing a yacht, Manta Ray, an Olson 911 SE sail number 45, she co-owns. She was a chair of the Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) of Seattle Large Boat Racing Fleet.


lacey phillabaum - Snitch

Lacey Phillabaum – Snitch

Lacey Phillabaum (DOB: ~1975)
Age: 48
5156 W Olive Ave # 111
Glendale, AZ 85302-4205

Informant Status: Phillabaum took a cooperating plea agreement, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, arson, and use of a destructive device at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001. The university spent $7.2 million to rebuild the center. She is very intelligent, calculated and manipulative. Phillabaum is a former Earth First! Journal editor, known for her role as the narrator of the underground documentary film Breaking the Spell, which advocates property damage and examines the 1999 Seattle WTO riots from the perspective of anarchists in Eugene, OR. In 2005 she moved to Charlottesville, VA, to take reporting position at C-Ville Weekly. She turned herself in to federal agents sometime around early 2006. In 2008, Phillabaum was sentenced to three years in federal prison and three years’ probation.

Current Information: (updated July 2023) She was released on 4-21-2010 and is currently out after transitioning via a halfway house in Spokane, WA.  She is thought to be living at her parents’ house in near Phoenix, AZ and reportedly seeking work as a paralegal.


suzanne savoie - snitch

Suzanne Savoie – Snitch

Suzanne Nicole Savoie aka “India,” (DOB: ~1977)
Age: 45
17607 Elliot Creek Rd
Jacksonville, OR 97530-9447

Informant Status: (updated July 2023) Charged with arson at Superior Lumber Co., in Glendale, OR. She was sentenced to more than 51 months in prison for her role in two arsons. She turned self in to FBI agents in mid-January 2006. Savoie made statements against Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher and was given a sentence only 8 months less than expected because of her cooperation with investigators.

Current Information: Released in March 2011, living with her husband in the Applegate Valley of southern Oregon. She attended the April 2011 screening of “If a Tree Falls” in Ashland and was heckled and harassed during and after the showing. She claims her “innocence” as a reluctant federal informant, and her husband has attempted to rejoin the activist community.

ELF Snitch Suzanne Savoie Hosting Pollinator Plant Workshop in Grants Pass, Oregon: http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2016/04/11/elf-snitch-suzanne-savoie-hosting-pollinator-plant-workshop-in-grants-pass-oregon/


Kendall Tankersley Snitch

Kendall Tankersley – Snitch

Sarah “Kendall” Harvey Tankersley (DOB: ~1977) of Ohio

Informant Status: Arrested while living in Flagstaff, AZ, charged with arson and attempted arson of US Forest Industries in Medford. Kendall received a 3-year, 10-month sentence. Judge Ann Aiken sentenced Tankersley to five months less than she agreed to when she took a cooperating plea agreement to arson at the US Forest Industry’s office in Medford in 1998 because she cooperated with the state.

Current Information: She was preparing for medical school when she pled, and attended Humboldt State and graduated with molecular biology degree in 2004 so may be working in either field.  She was released on 9-17-2010.


Chelsea Gerlach - Snitch

Chelsea Gerlach – Snitch

Chelsea Dawn Gerlach (DOB: 1977) of Sweet Home, and later Eugene, Oregon

Informant Status: Sentences to 9 years for arson at Childers Meat Co. in Eugene; arson at a Boise Cascade office in Monmouth, OR; toppling of a Bonneville Power Administration tower; arson at the Eugene Police Department West University Public Safety Station; attempted arson at Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie. Gerlach pled guilty in a cooperating agreement to conspiracy and arson charges in a string of 20 fires that did $40 million worth of damage in five states, including a 1998 fire at the Vail ski resort in Colorado. After the group disbanded in 2001, Gerlach went underground and became a DJ in Portland, OR. At the time of her arrest, she was selling drugs in Portland with her boyfriend Darren Todd Thurston. Thus far, drug charges are not pending with either Gerlach or Thurston. Gerlach was extremely helpful to the prosecution, although she defends herself against being vilified as a snitch and says she cooperated ‘for the movement.’ Gerlach made statements against Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher. She convinced Thurston to turn informant, unsuccessfully attempting to get Zacher, Block and McGowan to turn as well. She led the prosecution on several field trips to previous arsons and a buried cache of guns, ammunition and fake passports allegedly belonging to William “Avalon” Rodgers. 

Current Information:  She provided information about herself including self-identifying as good with words and computers in an interview she did from prison with Outside Magazine in 2007.  She also developed an interest in Buddhism while incarcerated.  She is still registered at a halfway house in Seattle (although she is working at her brother’s business in Eugene, The Divine Cupcake).

Current updates: Coming soon.


Darren Thurston - Snitch

Darren Thurston – Snitch

Darren Todd Thurston aka “Goat,” (DOB: ~1970)  of Canada

Informant Status: Took a cooperating plea agreement, charged with conspiracy to commit arson and destruction of an energy facility east of Bend, OR in 1999. Thurston was given a sentence of 37 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson in the 2001 fire at the Litchfield, Calif., U.S. Bureau of Land Management wild horse corrals. 

Current Information: He was released on 8-14-2008.  As of summer 2010, he was running his own computer security firm (http://www.hard-mac.com/blog/) out of Canada. He goes by “rad_boy” and “hard_mac”.

Read Darren’s plea agreement and more here…


kevin tubbs - snitch

Kevin Tubbs – Snitch

Kevin Tubbs (DOB: ~1969), originally from Nebraska, but had been living in Springfield, Oregon

Informant status: Tubbs attended Humboldt State University and was once editor of the Earth First! Journal. Despite his status as an informant, he still has an active support page at: www.supportkevintubbs.com.  Tubbs cooperated three weeks after his arrest. His cooperation was substantial, after he learned of three snitches against him: Ferguson, Meyerhoff and Kolar—in that order. Tubbs’ testimony was sufficient enough to get Jonathan Paul indicted. Tubbs was an animal rights activist charged with arson of Oakridge Ranger Station; arson of Cavel West horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, OR, on July 21, 1997; attempted arson at US Forest Industries in Medford, OR, in December 1998; arson at Childers Meat Co., in Eugene; Sept. 6, 2000, arson at the Eugene Police Department West University Public Safety Station; Jan. 2, 2001, arson at Superior Lumber Co., in Glendale, OR; using a destructive device to set fire to sport utility vehicles at a Eugene, OR, car dealership in March 2001; arson at Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, OR, in May 2001. In 2007, he was sentenced to nearly 12 years and 7 months in prison with 3 years supervised release. 

Current Information: Coming soon.


Briana Waters - Snitch

Briana Waters – Snitch

Briana Waters (DOB: ~1975), formerly of Oakland, California

Informant status: Sadly, this former non-cooperating ELF prisoner, took a cooperating plea deal in the prosecution of two 2001 ELF acts of arson. She had been released earlier this year after a mistrial and is expected to testify against former boyfriend Justin Solondz, who was captured as a fugitive in China, is now in US custody for alleged ELF activity.

Current Information: She has a young daughter and was working as a violin teacher prior to arrest.


Ryan Lewis

Ryan Lewis - Snitch

Ryan Lewis – Snitch

In the criminal complaint against Eric McDavid, Zachary Jenson and Lauren Weiner (who are all currently under federal indictment) it states:

“On August 31,2005 FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Agents interviewed Lewis, who indentified McDavid in a digital photo recovered from the hard drive of Lewis’s computer. Lewis further advised that McDavid was a friend and had intentions to travel by hitchiking to protest destinations across the country, including the presidental inauguration in Washington DC.”

No more is known at this time about the nature of Lewis’s cooperation with the government. All that is known is that he indentified and discussed someone else with the FBI and that person was later arrested. Ryan Lewis was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted arson and one count of arson. After completing his sentence he will have a three year term of supervised release and be ordered to pay $243,000 restitution.


Lauren Weiner - Snitch

Lauren Weiner – Snitch

Lauren Weiner (DOB: ~1986) of Pound Ridge, New York

Informant Status: Arrested on January 13, 2006, along with Eric McDavid and Zachary Jenson. She was charged with a single count of conspiracy to destroy by arson or explosives public and private property. Her arrest was the direct result of a paid FBI informant, known as “Anna,” who spent over a year and half befriending and entrapping the trio. Lauren was released on bond in early February 2006 and later plead guilty to a lesser charge on May 30, 2006. However, there is evidence that Lauren was cooperating with the government months before the plea agreement was signed. The terms of her plea agreement required full cooperation with the government against Eric McDavid at trial, as well as in any and all other investigations in which the government deemed her useful. Lauren received time served (which amounted to about 3 weeks) at her sentencing on December 11, 2008. Her supervised release expired in December 2011.

Current Information: Lauren has a heavy build, with brown hair and brown eyes. She stands at about 5’1’’. Her last known place of residence was Pound Ridge, New York (Westchester County). Lauren attended art school and is quite skilled in pottery and various other art forms. She is outspoken and often lies or engages in hyperbolic speech to impress those around her. Stories have surfaced about her attempting to attend fundraisers for Green Scare defendants after her release on bond.

The full text of his plea agreement can be found here.


Zach Jensen - Snitch

Zach Jensen – Snitch

Zachary Jensen (DOB: ~1986) of Monroe, Washington

Informant Status: Arrested on January 13, 2006, along with Eric McDavid and Lauren Weiner and charged with a single count of conspiracy to destroy by arson or explosives public and private property. His arrest was the direct result of a paid FBI informant, known as “Anna,” who spent over a year and half befriending and entrapping the trio. Zach plead guilty to a lesser charge on July 18, 2006 and was released on bail later that month. The terms of his plea agreement required full cooperation with the government against Eric McDavid at trial, as well as in any and all other investigations in which the government deemed him useful. Zach received time served (which amounted to about 6 months) at his sentencing on December 4, 2008. His supervised release expired in December 2011.

Current Information: Zach has a medium build, with brown hair and brown eyes. He stands at about 5’5’’. His last known place of residence was Seattle, Washington. He fancies himself a writer and claimed to have been working on a book about his experiences (and warning others against following a similar path) during the time of his sentencing hearing. He has also claimed an interest in Buddhism, yoga and other “spiritual” pursuits. He is normally withdrawn and quiet and eager to please whatever company he might be keeping.


Justin Samuel – Snitch

Justin Clayton Samuels (DOB: Dec. 31, 1978)
530 Briar Rd,
Bellingham, WA 98225

Height: 6’ 0″. Weight: ~165 lbs. Hair: brown. Eyes: hazel. Race: white

Personal website:
Informant Status: Testified against Peter Young in charges related to cutting fences and liberating mink from a series of fur farms in October 1997.

He was sentenced to two years in federal prison plus a year supervised release and ordered to pay $364,106 in restitution in exchange for his cooperation.

Current Information: (updated July 2023)  Married Allison Porter, a named “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case against Peter Young. Justin directly implicated her in an accessory role in his Grand Jury testimony (https://www.scribd.com/document/426730340/Justin-Samuel-Grand-Jury-Testimony-FBI-investigation-of-Animal-Liberation-Front-ALF-fur-farm-campaign-in-1997)

Founded Less Bits & Early Dog
Allison Porter (now Allison Samuel) is CEO:
Read Peter’s statement about Justin here.

 

David Agranoff - Snitch

David Agranoff – Snitch

David Agranoff (DOB ~1974)
Age: 49
4659 Voltaire St
San Diego, CA 92107-1762

https://instagram.com/count.agranoff?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Informant Status: (updated July 2023) Agreed to become a government informant as part of a plea agreement related to Earth Liberation Front crimes in Bloomington, Indiana, more than 10 years ago.  According to the prosecution at Kruk’s sentencing hearing, Agranoff began, “negotiating with the state on various issues” in 2009. In January, 2012, Agranoff was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day for misprision of a felony (knowing about the commission of a felony and failing to report it to the police). The court recommended he serve his time in a low-security prison camp. He also received 1 year probation.


 

“Anna” (DOB ~1986, according to court testimony): of Miami, Florida when she started working for the Feds; Height: approximately 5’4’’

Informant Status: Worked as an informant in the anarchist/environmental/animal rights movements since at least 2003 (during the FTAA protests in Miami). She attended various gatherings, meetings and protests up until January 2006 when Eric McDavid, Lauren Weiner, and Zachary Jenson were arrested in Auburn, CA and charged with conspiracy to destroy public and private property. During her time with the trio, Anna wore a wire, had a recording device in her car, possibly her bag, and the house they were living in (that the Feds paid for) was wired. She reported back to the feds about anyone and everyone she came into contact with—not just Eric, Zach and Lauren. The criminal complaint against Eric states that Anna was involved in the prosecution of at least 12 other “anarchist” cases. According to her testimony at Eric McDavid’s trial, she was recruited by the FBI after going “undercover” to write a paper for a class about the FTAA protests. During her time as an informant, she reported on people attending Crimethinc gatherings, the DNC, the RNC, BioDev in Philly, the G8, Feral Visions and more. Her work entrapping Eric McDavid landed him in prison for a term of almost 20 years.

Current Information: During her time working for the feds, she dyed her hair frequently—sometimes blond, sometimes red, sometimes brown. She told people she was a medic, wore a medic’s garb and carried a medic’s bag, although no one ever actually saw her perform any of the functions of a medic. She boasted of previous actions, was bold in her speech, and was incredibly pushy. She always had seemingly bottomless pockets and even paid for Weiner to fly across the country. According to FOIA documents, Anna was residing in Philadelphia at some point after Eric’s arrest. Before Eric was arrested, Anna had used the email address: annadavies99@yahoo.com and the phone number: 954-821-2477. She also sometimes told people that Anna was an alias and that “Grai Damiani” was her real name.

For more insight into Anna, you can read court transcripts of her testimony at Eric’s trial at: supporteric.org


 

Angela “Angie” Marie Cesario (DOB ~1979)

Informant Status: Took a cooperating plea deal for a 2001 firebombing of logging and cement trucks in Oregon, pointing the finger at Tre Arrow to reduce her sentence. This was a departure from earlier testimonies, when both Cesario and Rosenbloom did not name Arrow as the instigator, but Jake Sherman. All three named Arrow in exchange for sentences of 41 months. She was released on 12-22-2006.
—————————————
Jeremy David Rosenbloom (DOB ~1977)

Informant Status: took a cooperating plea deal, pointing the finger at Tre Arrow to reduce the sentence. This was a departure from earlier testimonies, when both Cesario and Rosenbloom did not name Arrow as the instigator, but Jake Sherman. All three named Arrow in exchange for sentences of 41 months. He was released on 12-22-2006.

Current Information: Now living in Portland, OR, working as a licensed home inspector [https://www.ccb.state.or.us/search/business_detail.asp?license_number==3D203046], working for his own company, 360 Home Care [http://360homecare.net/]. He is married to Emily Rosenbloom [http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=3D1698=03400].
—————————————–
Jacob “Jake” David Bardwell Sherman (DOB ~1982) of Portland, Oregon

Informant Status: Convicted of arson of logging trucks and a front-end loader near Eagle Creek in 2001. Sherman “immediately began to cooperate” with investigators after his arrest, according to court documents, naming three others who had participated in the arsons: Tre Arrow, Angela Marie Cesario and Jeremy David Rosenbloom and pegging Arrow as the ringleader in exchange for a sentence of 41 months. 

Sherman was boastful and told several girlfriends (two of whom also provided information to the government), in detail, his version of the events that took place that night. Sherman had also not been an especially careful saboteur. His mother’s vehicle smelled of gasoline and he dumped his clothes in the trash bin when he returned that night at 2:00 am, asking his brother to tell his parents that he had returned home at 10:30 pm. Sherman’s father contacted the FBI telling them he believed his son was involved in the arson. 

Current Information: Currently works for Portland State University [http://www.pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/250306-118161-turning-a-new-leaf]


 

Stephanie Lynne Fultz (DOB ~1980)

Informant Status: Cooperated with the authorities and testified against Marie Mason and Jesse Waters after being charged with participating in one ELF action with Mason and Ambrose. In 2009, Fultz was placed on probation for two years and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Current Information: None at this time.


 

Aren Bernard Burthwick (DOB ~1980)

Informant Status: Cooperated with the authorities and testified against Marie Mason after being charged with participating in one action with Mason and Ambrose. Burthwick was sentenced to 14 months in 2009.

Current Information: none at this time.


 

Trapper James Zuehlke (DOB: April 14, 1975), of Council Bluffs, Iowa

Informant Status: To evade his own legal issues, he provided information in 2010 on his brother Walter Bond’s whereabouts and criminal activity, including going out of his way to trick Walter into a location where he was arrested.  While this is not a case of someone in the movement informing, it does illustrate another example of how one may become an informant to be aware of.

Current Information: He lives with wife and three children in Council Bluffs.  He is employed at Jim Hawk Truck Trailers.


William “Billy” Jensen Cottrell (DOB: 1980) of Gainesville, Florida

Informant Status: A former Ph.D. candidate at the California Institute of Technology who was convicted in April 2005 of conspiracy and arson, associated with the 2003 destruction of 8 sport utility vehicles and a Hummer dealership in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). He named Tyler Johnson as the ‘mastermind’ behind the arsons.  He was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on arson charges and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution. His lawyers appealed the verdict and sentence on account that he has Asperger’s syndrome and it was upheld 2/3 of the way through his sentence.

Current Information: He was released August 16, 2011, and is now living in Florida.


Ian Jacob Wallace (DOB: ~1981) Formerly of the Twin Cities and recently attending college at Stony Brook (NY)

Informant Status: Signed a cooperating plea agreement on September 5, 2008 resulting in a sentence of three years in prison, beginning June 1, 2009, for his role in placing two failed firebombs at US Forest Service buildings where GE tree research was being conducted on the campus of Michigan Tech University in 2001. Wallace and another traveled from Minneapolis to upper Michigan for the action, according to the pleas agreement. He faced a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Wallace also admitted involvement in three other acts in the plea agreement: two in Saint Paul—sabotage of a building and vehicles at a US Forest Service research station in 2000 (loss $25,186) and arson of the construction site of what is today the Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics on the University of Minnesota campus (loss $630,000).  He also admitted to involvement and named three other activists responsible for the destruction of 500 research GE trees in Rhinelander, Wisconsin: Bryan Lefey (who took a non-cooperating agreement) and was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the Rhinelander action, Katherine Christianson (who took a cooperating agreement) was sentenced to 2 years, and Daniel McGowan, serving a 7 year sentence currently. Aaron Ellringer, who drove the activists to the Rhinelander site, cooperated with the government and was sentenced to four days in jail. Please contact us with any further information on Christianson or Ellringer.  See Source.

Current Information: He was released on 01-12-2012. He most likely still lives in East Setauket, NY.


 

Nikki Stanford

Nicole “Nikki” Stanford (formerly Viehl) (DOB: ~1990): of Salt Lake City, Utah; Height 5’3″; Weight: 95 lbs

Informant Status: Was subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in 2009 investigating local illegal animal rights activities, mainly fur farm raids in Utah.  She was initially going to resist the grand jury along with Jordan Halliday, but later decided to testify and admitted to naming names and vehicles on the stand.  She used to be married to former animal liberation prisoner BJ Viehl.

Current Information: She works as a model and at a gun store called Gallenson’s at 166 E 200 South in Salt Lake City. She uses Instagram as buns_n_ammo [https://instagram.com/buns_n_ammo/]


Daniel Kruk (DOB ~1980): of Baltimore, MD; Height:  6’5”.  Weight: ~250 lbs.  Race:  White

Informant Status:  Daniel Kruk appeared in federal court in Indianapolis on July 19 2012, to offer a guilty plea and for sentencing for charges relating to an arson at the Republican National Headquarters in Bloomington, IN in 2000.  At this hearing, it was disclosed that Kruk has been cooperating with the feds since 2009.  Kruk was facing a sentence of up to 5 years and a fine of up to $150,000 in restitution. Because of his cooperation, he received 4 years of probation (no jail time), 2 years of community service (one 8-hour day a month), and a $5000 fine.

Current Information:  He lives in Baltimore and works at a FedEx store.


Frank Brian Ambrose (DOB: ~1975), formerly of Bloomington, Indiana
13732 Santa Rosa Ct
Manassas, VA 20112-3819

Informant Status: Ambrose pleaded guilty in a cooperating agreement to conspiring to set a fire and explosion that caused more than $1 million in damage to the offices of Michigan State University’s Agriculture Biotechnology Support Project on New Year’s Eve 1999. Ambrose became a paid FBI informant after his arrest (for disposing of evidence of actions in a dumpster that were found and law enforcement notified). Ambrose has provided information on 15 other people allegedly involved in ELF/ALF actions, including ex-wife Marie Mason. Court documents reveal that Ambrose was being used by the FBI not only to gather information on ELF/ALF activities but general movement organizing as well (specifically organizing against I-69 and Cincinnati Earth First! organizing). He “traveled outside of Michigan seven times at the FBI’s direction, often working extremely late hours; he made repeated trips from Detroit to Grand Rapids; he made 178 consensual recordings of telephone conversations and in-person meetings with investigative targets; and he participated in lengthy interviews with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and otherwise assisted the FBI’s efforts to improve its intelligence-gathering protocols related to, and its understanding of, underground environmental and animal-rights extremist groups and movements.”

In sum, his cooperation with investigators after his arrest has been substantial and rather extraordinary. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2008. He also received a lifetime of supervisory release after prison and was ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution to the University and for other sabotaged sites.  There is speculation of an additional informant in Ambrose’s case (listed as another confidential source in official documents). Confirmation and details on the identity of this person are currently pending.

Current Information: (updated July 2023) Frank Ambrose is arguably one of the most high profile snitches in earth and animal liberation movement history. Super-snitch Frank Ambrose betrayed his then husband Marius Mason, closing the investigation into a series of unsolved ALF and ELF actions in Michigan and Indiana.

Marius was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. Ambrose was sentenced to nine years for his cooperation. Frank continued to cooperate with prosecutors, provided “substantial assistance,” and his nine year sentence was reduced to 5 years and 10 months.

The prosecutor at the time called his assistance “nothing short of remarkable.”

Frank’s father, Frank Sr. owns Modern Hardwood Floor Service in Manassas, VA. https://www.modernhardwoodfloorservice.com/


Liam Mulholland
Age: 41
9249 Gleannloch Dr
Indianapolis, IN 46256-2228

Liam was involved in environmental activism and animal rights in the late 1990s and 2002–2004 in Indiana. He entered a plea agreement to carrying out an ELF arson in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2003 and cooperated fully with the federal government. He claimed involvement in several more ELF and ALF actions that took place between 2002–2003, and provided the feds with details of the actions, the names of the other activists with whom he supposedly carried out these actions, as well as where and how they traveled, where and when they planned and discussed their actions, what they purchased for the actions, how they disposed of the purchased items, and how they carried out each action.

In 2008, Liam was accused of having cooperated with the FBI, re-emerging on the activist scene in 2007–2008 and attempting to reignite old friendships and networks after knowingly engaging in secret discussions with the FBI. Liam publicly denied these claims, but his plea agreement and Government Sentencing Memorandum show that, despite his claims, he has in fact been cooperating. On May 5, 2014, he was sentenced to 1 day in jail, time served, and 2 years’ supervised probation.

Current Information: (updated July 2023) In the past decade, Mulholland obtained his law degree, married, and has been employed in Indiana.