June 4, 2007 update: Eco-snitches in Northwest U.S.

"For the sake of clarity, let us be uncomfortably honest: to snitch is to take a life. By words and by weapons, each day lives are taken in the most egregious of crimes. When this happens in the courtroom, we call it "cooperation". I call it violence, and I call anything done to keep an informant out of the courtroom "self defense". -- Peter Young, animal liberation prisoner

Eugene, Oregon, U.S. - Public defender Craig Weinerman named known heroin and meth addict, Jacob "Sketcher D" Ferguson as one of the government informants who helped the F.B.I. arresst six individuals on charges stemming from Earth and Animal Liberation Front actions that occured between 1998 and 2001. One of the six arrested, Stanislas "Jack" Meyerhoff of Charlottesville, Virginia, has expressed remorse for his crimes and agreed to fully cooperate with investigators.

Meyerhoff is charged with knocking down an electrical transmission tower east of Bend, Oregon on the eve of the new year in 1999. He is alleged to have toppled the tower with a former South Eugene High School classmate, Chelsea Gerlach . He is also facing arson charges from a January, 2001 Superior Lumber Company fire in Glendale, Oregon and a May, 2001 fire at the Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, Oregon along with Daniel G. McGowan of New York City. The state's case has so far relied solely on the testimony of three unnamed cooperating witnesses, but federal prosecutors promised to provide 1,000 pages of evidence to defense attorneys on Friday.

"Anna"

A "confidential source" (CS) for the FBI, uses other names and thought to be in her early-to-mid 20s, she attended the June 2005 Bio-Democracy protests in Philadelphia, the July 2005 CrimethInc convergence in Indiana, the July/August 2005 Feral Visions gathering in the southern Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. She worked as a field medic at protests. She has worked for the FBI since at least 2004, and has reportedly received $75,000 plus expenses for her efforts. Her testimony represents the primary evidence against Eric McDavid, Zachary Jensen and Lauren Weiner, who were arrested January 13, 2006 in Auburn, California; the three face 20-year prison sentences for conspiracy to damage property by fire.

 

Jen Kolar

Kolar is a woman who has never been charged with any offence in relation to the ongoing investigation against the eleven people accused of illegal activity in the State of Oregon; however, it has been widely believed for a while that Kolar has been cooperating with the police in their investigation.  This suspicion was confirmed when the well known Earth First! lawyer, Stu Sugarman, stated in court that Jonathan Paul's arrest was based on the testimony of Jen Kolar.
 

Ryan Lewis

On Friday March 17 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. 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.

Chelsea Gerlach and Suzanne Savoie

Chelsea Gerlach and Suzanne Savoie have both been named by some of their co-defendants, as well as by some of the lawyers, as cooperating with the authorities which has included making statements against others. We have no yet confirmed the full extent of their cooperation with the authorities (and there may be others who they have named), but we have confirmed that both Gerlach and Savoie have made statements against Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher.

Lauren Weiner and Zachary Jenson

Lauren Weiner, Zachary Jenson, and Eric McDavid were arrested in Auburn, CA on Jan 13, 2006 as part of the government's Green Scare campaign. They were charged with conspiracy to destroy property by means of fire or explosives, facing up to 20 years in federal prison for a crime that was never committed.

Zachary felt that he could no longer cope with waiting for trial at Sacramento County Jail and has decided to take the same plea agreement that Lauren Weiner took in May, which requires him to “cooperate fully with the government, and any other federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, as the government directs.” His new charges will hold a maximum 5 year sentence, but Zachary will have to live with himself for the rest of his life knowing he abandoned and informed on a friend. The full text of his plea agreement can be found here.