PORTLAND, Ore. – Two more people were indicted Thursday on charges they were part of a group calling itself “The Family” that was responsible for a series of firebombings around the Northwest from 1996 to 2001 claimed by the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front.
The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Eugene brings to 13 the number of people who will go on trial Oct. 31 on 65 counts, including conspiracy, arson, and use of a destructive device in a crime of violence.
The targets included U.S. Forest Service ranger stations in Oregon, government and university research labs in Washington, a horse slaughterhouse in Oregon, a tree farm in Oregon, a power transmission tower in Oregon, a Colorado ski resort, lumber mills in Oregon, and federal wild horse corrals in Oregon, Wyoming and California. The fires caused more than $100 million in damages.
Nathan F. Block, 24, and Joyanna L. Zacher, 28, were arrested in Olympia in February on charges they took part in the firebombing of the Jefferson Poplar Farms tree farm in Clatskanie, Ore., in 2001.
They were indicted Thursday on new charges alleging they also took part in the 2001 arson of 35 sport utility vehicles at Joe Romania Chevrolet in Eugene, and were part of the larger conspiracy.
The new charges mean Block and Zacher could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on all counts, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer.
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