Posted by Peter Young
Animal Liberation FrontLine
Rubin expected to plead guilty to all but the most serious of her charges.
This has been all over the news the last two days, so I’m just going to focus on two things here: The basics, and the parts of this story so far that might have been easy to miss.
The surrender
Rebecca Rubin turned herself in to US authorities this week after six years on the run. She was one of three remaining fugitives in the Operation Backfire case, in which 14 people were charged with a massive ALF / ELF arson campaign over a five year period.
The charges
Rubin is charged with two ALF actions and two ELF actions. The ALF actions are the Nov. 30, 1997, arson at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Facility near Burns, Oregon and setting a fire at the BLM Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Corrals near Susanville, Calif in 2001. The ELF actions are the arson at a ski lodge in Vail, Colorado in 1998, and the Dec. 22, 1998, attempted arson at the offices of U.S. Forest Industries Inc. in Medford.
Three years in the works
According her attorney, Rubin has been attempting to negotiate surrender since 2009, pending the prosecutors in every jurisdiction agreeing to a plea deal. One jurisdiction was said to have “balked” at any talk of negotiations, which delayed Rubin’s surrender for three years.
Not assisting the government
She is said to not be assisting the government in locating the last two fugitives in the case: Joseph Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker.
Guilty plea expected in all but the most serious charges
In advance of her surrender, she reportedly arranged a plea deal in which she will plead guilty to all but the most serious of charges against her. She will not be pleading guilty to use of a destructive device, which carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.
I don’t need to say that life as a fugitive can run a wide spectrum, but it is never easy, and she still has a hard road ahead. To send a letter of support, as of December 2nd, she can be written at:
Rebecca Rubin 98290-011
FDC SEATAC
FEDERAL DETENTION CENTER
P.O. BOX 13900
SEATTLE, WA 98198