AP Photo/Mark Mobley/File

(This image provided by firefighter Mark Mobley shows the Two Elks Restaurant burning on Vail Mountain, Colo., Oct. 19, 1998.)

BY THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE

(Compiled from news accounts, court records, public notices)

Last week's arrest of a long-sought accused eco-saboteur pushed the spotlight back on a tight-knit cell of radical environmentalists responsible for a $48 million run of firebombings and other crimes across the West in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Six men and five women prosecuted in Oregon received sentences ranging from three years to 13 years.

They were arrested starting in 2005 in what the FBI called "Operation Backfire," a task force that tracked down the suspects with the help of an informant deep within the underground group. The collective was known as The Family.

One -- Canadian Rebecca Rubin -- turned herself in at the U.S. border in Washington state in late 2012, driven to the meeting by her mother.

One -- Josephine Sunshine Overaker -- remains at large. Federal authorities say she may have fled to Europe. The FBI has offered a reward for up to $50,000 for information that leads to her arrest.

Prosecutors said they torched a slaughterhouse, logging trucks, SUVS at a car dealership, ranger stations, a government lab and the biggest target, a $12 million arson at a ski resort in Vail, Colo., then the most destructive act of eco-sabotage in U.S. history.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the time called the case "the largest prosecution of environmental extremists in U.S. history" who were responsible for "a broad campaign of domestic terrorism."

Here's a who's who of the group. All 11 who served prison time are out now, the most recent one released was Rubin last year.

JOSEPH DIBEE, now 50

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FBI/File

Police arrested Joseph Mahmoud Dibee in Cuba as he was making his way from Central America to Russia, federal authorities said.

He made his first appearance Aug. 10 in U.S. District Court in Portland. He had been living in Seattle and working as a computer software tester at Microsoft when he fled.

He's accused of helping destroy a meatpacking plant called Cavel West Inc. in Redmond on July 1, 1997.

Those involved wore dark clothing, masks and gloves. Dibee drilled holes and poured flammable gel into holes around the property, prosecutors said. One of three explosive devices ignited prematurely. The arson caused $1.2 million in damage.

JOSEPHINE OVERAKER

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Image from FBI

(Age-progressed photo of Josephine Overaker)

Josephine Sunshine Overaker of Eugene has been on the run since 2001, federal officials said. She's wanted in connection with the Vail resort fire and other sabotage.

She's believed to be either 43 or 46 years old, and at one time used the name of a deceased baby, according to the FBI.

She has a tattoo of a bird on her back, according to federal officials.

An FBI wanted flier says she may be working as a firefighter, a midwife, sheep tender or a masseuse. She is fluent in Spanish and "is known to use illegal narcotics." She was a vegan and still may be, the flier says.

REBECCA RUBIN, now 44

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The Oregonian/Multnomah County Sheriff's Office/File

Rebecca Rubin of Canada was sentenced to to five years in prison. She was released on April 7, 2017. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay $1,783,318.30 in restitution.

Rubin pleaded guilty to arson, attempted arson and conspiracy to commit arson in Oregon, Colorado and California as part of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. The FBI characterized the groups as the nation's leading domestic terrorist organizations at the time.

She participated in four crimes, including planning the eventual fire that destroyed the Vail ski resort under construction in 1998.

In November 1997, she freed 400 wild horses from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management corral in Burns as others set the place ablaze.

Just before Christmas 1998, Rubin took part in an attempt to set fire to the headquarters of U.S. Forest Industries in Medford. Just after the holiday, others went back and carried out the job successfully, causing $700,000 in damage.

In 2001, she helped let loose horses from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management horse and burro corral in Litchfield, Calif. The saboteurs she was traveling with set a fire that destroyed a barn and 250 tons of hay.

She worked as a nanny, tended to animals and created a new life for herself in hiding after she became a fugitive. She didn't marry or have children, her lawyer said, because she expected to pay for her crimes.

She was among many in the group who apologized.

STANISLAS MEYERHOFF, now 41

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The Associated Press/File

Stanislas G. Meyerhoff of Charlottesville, Va., received the longest prison sentence, 13 years, for a string of arsons, including setting fire to more than 30 SUVs at a dealership in Eugene.

A federal judge found that three of his fire bombings were acts of terrorism. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy, arson and destruction of an energy facility.

"It was your intent to scare and frighten other people through a very dangerous and psychological act -- arson," U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken of Eugene told Meyerhoff. "Your actions included elements of terrorism to achieve your goal.

"The fact that your actions were completely irrational doesn't mitigate this. Nor does the fact that no one was hurt."





He was released from prison on July 8, 2015. He also was ordered to pay $17,803,346 in restitution.

Government officials described him as a leading member of The Family.

Among his crimes: Toppling a Bonneville Power Administration high-voltage transmission tower near Bend in 1999 and seven fire bombings -- the Vail ski resort (1998), Childers Meat Co. in Eugene (1999), Boise Cascade in Monmouth (1999), a Eugene police substation (2000), Joe Romania Chevrolet Truck Center in Eugene (2001), Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale (2001) and Jefferson Poplar Farm near Clatskanie (2001).

Federal agents got an informant to wear a microphone when talking to other members of The Family, which led to Meyerhoff's arrest in 2005. Soon Meyerhoff was talking to the government, too, resulting in more arrests.

"One by one the perpetrators, faced with the prospect of lengthy prison sentences, began to tell of their and others' involvement in the numerous acts of arson and destruction," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.

KEVIN TUBBS, now 49

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The Associated Press/File

Kevin Tubbs of Springfield was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, arson and destruction of an energy facility.

He was released on July 26, 2013. His sentence included an order to pay $10,560,429 in restitution.

Tubbs, who was involved in nine fires, said during his sentencing that cruelty to animals and a desperation to save the Earth led him to commit the crimes.

He apologized. "I am disgusted, sickened, saddened, and totally ashamed that I played any part in any of the incidents," he said.

A prosecutor said Tubbs wasn't a leader of The Family but often picked the targets, helped recruit other members and built the firebombs, though he mostly acted as a lookout or driver when the sabotage occurred.

A federal judge found that four of the fires involving Tubbs were acts of terrorism: at an Oakridge forest ranger station in 1996, the Eugene police substation in 2000 and the Eugene auto dealership and the Clatskanie tree farm, both in 2001.

One of the other fires came in 1997 at Cavel West, a horse meat-packing plant in Redmond, where Tubbs and Joseph Dibee wore masks and gloves and carried police scanners and two-way radios as they set timed incendiaries with five-gallon buckets of fuel, an indictment said.

The men fled, put their shoes and clothes in a hole and poured acid on them to hide evidence, according to the indictment.

The other fires were at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro facility at Burns (1997), the Childers Meat Co. in Eugene (1999) and the Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale (2001).

Tubbs also acknowledged an attempted arson of the U.S. Forest Industries headquarters in Medford (1998).

CHELSEA GERLACH, now 41

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The Associated Press/File

Chelsea Gerlach of Portland, who went by the name "Country Girl," was sentenced to nine years in prison and released on Oct. 10, 2013. She was ordered to pay nearly $15,894,755 in restitution.

She was convicted of involvement in five firebombings -- at the Vail ski resort, the Childers Meat Co. in Eugene, Boise Cascade in Monmouth, the Eugene police substation and the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie; and the toppling of a high-voltage Bonneville Power Administration tower near Bend.

A federal judge also found that some of Gerlach's crimes warranted a "terrorism enchancement." She pleaded guilty to conspiracy, arson and destruction of an energy facility.

“It was your intention to scare, frighten and intimidate people and government through the very dangerous act of arson,” U.S. Judge Ann L. Aiken told her.

Gerlach indicated at her sentencing that the times were changing. The nation was in a “cultural shift” toward environmental awareness, she said.

“This is a long process, and it cannot be done by force,” she said.

NATHAN BLOCK, now 37

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U.S. government/The Oregonian/File





Nathan Fraser Block of Olympia pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson and was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.





He was released on Oct. 29, 2012. He was ordered to pay $1,953,412 in restitution.





U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken didn't reduce his sentence reached in a plea bargain, saying she found no remorse in Block for the 2001 arson at the Clatskanie tree farm.

He also helped set fire to 35 SUVs at the Joe Romania Chevrolet Truck Center in Eugene. Block crawled under the SUVs and helped set a device attached to sheets soaked in gas that joined the vehicles, prosecutors said. He and Stanislas Meyerhoff set the device to ignite before a guard returned.





Prosecutors said he and co-defendant Joyanna Zacher helped another Family member, William Rodgers, grow and distribute marijuana, using the proceeds to fund arson.

JOYANNA ZACHER, now 40

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U.S. government/The Oregonian/File





Joyanna L. Zacher of Olympia pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson and was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.





She was released on Oct. 29, 2012. She was ordered to pay $1,953,412 in restitution.





U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken didn't reduce her sentence reached in a plea bargain, saying she found no remorse in Zacher for the 2001 arson at the Clatskanie tree farm.





Zacher also helped set fire to 35 SUVs at the Joe Romania Chevrolet Truck Center in Eugene. She was one of the lookouts.





"Even before their days in The Family, Block and Zacher were dedicated anarchists who, by definition, were anti-government. They carried that animus within the conspiracy," a government sentencing memo says.





Prosecutors said she and Block met at the World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle.

DANIEL MCGOWAN, now 44

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The Associated Press/File

Daniel Gerard McGowan of New York City pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson and was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $1,944,003 in restitution.

He was released on June 5, 2013.

He sobbed as he entered his plea, saying his actions weren't the work of a terrorist but someone who cared deeply about saving forests. He said he took full responsibility for his actions and regretted them.

He was involved in the 2001 arson at the Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale and arson at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie that same year.

A federal judge found that the tree farm fire was terrorism because it was intended to influence legislation. A communique issued afterward made reference to potential legislation to curb radicals.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken told McGowan, the son of a New York city transit cop, that he was a coward for donning a mask and setting fires to scare people rather than working positively to protect the environment.

"You are not a poster child for the environment," Aiken said. "You are an arsonist."

McGowan joined The Family in 2000 after taking part in anarchist riots in Seattle to protest World Trade Organization meetings, a prosecutor said.





McGowan's wife, who married him after his arrest, made a tearful plea for mercy, saying she was shocked to learn of his past, which was so different from the man she loved.

JONATHAN PAUL, now 52

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The Associated Press/File

Jonathan Christopher Mark Paul of Ashland, a seasoned activist, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson for the 1997 fire that destroyed the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse in Redmond.

He was released on July 1, 2011.

Paul had been a leading voice in the nation's radical movement to protect whales, wild horses and wilderness areas.

At a news conference on the day of Paul's plea, the FBI's special agent in charge for Oregon declared victory.

"These people claimed they did what they did to protect the environment," Robert Jordan said. "Along the way, they destroyed more than $30 million worth of resources. They spent year after year using violence to try to intimidate you and your government into their twisted way of thinking."

In a 1999 interview with The Oregonian, Paul tried to explain why some activists took extreme measures, even arson, to make points about humans' destruction of Earth and its creatures:

"None of the processes work ... like the legal process, litigation. We compare ourselves to the underground railroad, to some guerrilla movements that are trying to free themselves from oppressive governments. The only thing that's different about us is that we expand our thinking to other species and to the planet as a whole."

Paul is the younger brother of twin sisters Alexandra Paul, a star of the former TV series "Baywatch," and Caroline Paul, an author and former San Francisco firefighter.

SUZANNE SAVOIE, now 41

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U.S. government/File





Suzanne Savoie of Oregon's Applegate Valley was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and ordered to pay $1,944,033 in restitution. She was released on March 24, 2011.





She pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson charges.





With other members of The Family and linked to the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, she participated in two arsons -- at Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale in 2001 and the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie that same year.



Savoie's prison sentence recognized her cooperation with investigators and that she left the group in 2001 and had committed no crimes since then.





A website says Savoie and partner Luke Ruediger in 2014 founded Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds to encourage "the use of bioregional, localized genetic seed stock for native plantings and habitat restoration."

KENDALL TANKERSLEY, now 41

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U.S. government/The Oregonian/File





Kendall Tankersley, also known as Sarah Kendall Harvey, of Flagstaff, Ariz., was sentenced to three years and five months in prison and released on Sept. 17, 2010.





She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a series of fires from 1996 through 2001 in at least five Western states.





She also pleaded guilty to attempted arson and arson at U.S. Forest Industries, a private timber company, in Medford in 1998.





She was ordered to pay $983,615 in restitution.





"As a vocal activist, Tankersley frequently and publicly spoke out against the government, particularly on television," a government sentencing memo says.





U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken recognized that Tankersley left the conspiracy after one fire and cooperated when arrested.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Tankerley's sentence was reasonable even though she wasn't found to have engaged in domestic terrorism as did some of her co-defendants.



As many as 16 were involved in the conspiracy as members of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, authorities said.





Prosecutors said Tankersley researched U.S. Forest Industries and served as a lookout while others placed timed incendiaries near the building. They fled and learned later that the devices had malfunctioned.





A few days later, Tankersley and a second activist gathered materials for new firebombs. Tankersley drove back to U.S. Forest Industries and waited in the car while her cohort placed the new devices. They ignited and burned the building, causing a loss of about $990,000, the government said.

DARREN THURSTON, now late 30s

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Darren Todd Thurston of Canada admitted that he helped burn down the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's wild horse corrals in northeastern California in 2001.





He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison and ordered to pay $122,497 in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracy. He was released on Aug. 14, 2008.





Thurston acknowledged that he sneaked into the United States in October 2001 to take part in the Earth Liberation Front's first major eco-sabotage after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.





The fire destroyed a barn and 250 tons of hay.





The government said Thurston had helped install a roof rack on a truck to carry fuel for the firebombs, wiping away fingerprints with alcohol. He also helped obtain "clean maps" free of DNA to help them find their target.





Later in California, Thurston joined comrades on a mound overlooking the corrals near Litchfield. They tested night-vision scopes and cleaned their equipment again. Then on the night of Oct. 15, Thurston and the others donned black clothes, put on cotton gloves and stretched socks over their shoes to avoid leaving evidence behind. Carrying a two-way radio, Thurston helped cut the metal fence around the corrals in a failed attempt to free 160 horses. Once the incendiaries were set, he and the others drove home.





Thurston was no stranger to radical environmentalism.





In the early 1990s in Alberta, he was convicted of setting fire to fish trucks and stealing 29 cats destined for medical experiments, according to news accounts. In 1998, Thurston and a close friend, David Barbarash, were charged with mailing letters booby-trapped with razors to hunting guides and fur industry officials. But the charges later were dropped when police refused to disclose their informants.

WILLIAM RODGERS, 40

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William Rodgers as among those indicted and implicated in the series of firebombings by The Family, including the Vail ski resort.

He had moved to Arizona, opened a bookstore, but was still trying to recruit a fellow saboteur not long before his arrest in 2005, prosecutors said.

Rodgers was quoted by the indictment as saying: "I'll be really energized and ready to set up . . . activities in ways that haven't been seen before."

He had gone by "Avalon" and "Mr. Green" and was considered one of the principal leaders of the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front movement.

"He was over 10 years older than most of the other cell members and used his charisma and commitment to the ALF/ELF cause to convince others to join the cell," a government sentencing memo says.

He wrote several instructional manuals on how to carry out "malicious destruction" and arson, including "The Black Cat Sabotage Handbook," court documents said.



Just before Christmas 2005, as the government formalized its case against him, Rodgers committed suicide in an Arizona jail.



***

UW HORTICULTURE CENTER FIRE

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U.S. government/File

Four people eventually pleaded guilty in Washington state for the fire that destroyed the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle in May 2001.

One of the center's buildings -- containing offices, laboratory space and a library -- suffered extensive damage and was considered a total loss with damages estimated at $6 million, prosecutors said.

The target was a professor doing research on the genetic engineering of poplar trees, according to a communique released after the fire in the name of the Earth Liberation Front.

Justin Solondz pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson and was sentenced in 2012 to seven years in prison. He had left the country in 2005 and stayed abroad after he learned of other arrests in the case, prosecutors said. He traveled under an assumed name and was returned to the U.S. in 2011 after Chinese authorities arrested him for manufacturing drugs.

Briana Waters was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy, arson and other crimes. A jury had found Waters guilty of arson in the case but her conviction was overturned by an appeals court that ruled a folder of anarchist materials was improperly admitted into evidence at her trial. Waters later admitted to building the firebombs at her house in Olympia and acting as a lookout.

Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum also pleaded guilty in the case. Kolar was sentenced to five years in prison and Phillabaum to three years.

CAVEL WEST SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIRE

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U.S. government/File

Here are some photos of the damage from the eco-crime spree.

This photo shows the Cavel West horse meat packing plant in Redmond, which was firebombed on July 21, 1997.

The government's sentencing memo said Kevin Tubbs "has acknowledged he chose Cavel West as a target after carefully researching it."

Cavel West bought government horses for slaughter.

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VAIL SKI RESORT FIRE

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The Associated Press/File

Smokes rises from the remains of the Two Elk Lodge and Restaurant on the top of Vail Mountain in Vail, Colo., on Oct. 19, 1998, after fire struck seven structures in the ski area.

The arson caused $12 million damage, a federal prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said Josephine Overaker, Kevin Tubbs, William Rodgers, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Chelsea Gerlach, Rebecca Rubin and Jacob Ferguson, who later worked with the government as an informant, participated in the arson.

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U.S. FOREST INDUSTRIES FIRE

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The Associated Press/File

Officials investigate a fire at the at U.S. Forest Industries in Medford. The Dec. 27, 1998, fire caused almost $1 million in damage, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Kevin Tubbs, Kendall Tankersley, Rebecca Rubin and Jacob Ferguson participated in the arson.

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BPA TOWER TOPPLING

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The Associated Press/File

A toppled transmission tower is seen in January 2000, outside Bend.

Some members of The Family admitted knocking down the 80-foot tower on Dec. 30, 1999.

Prosecutors said Stanislas Meyerhoff, Josephine Overaker, Chelsea Gerlach and Jacob Ferguson participated in the destruction.

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POPLAR FARM FIRE

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The Oregonian/File

A fire ignited by explosives destroyed two buildings and vehicles at the Jefferson Popular Farm on May 21, 2001, near Clatskanie.

***

Compiled by Margaret Haberman, additional reporting by Maxine Bernstein.