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Trial date set for suspected ecosaboteurs

The Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. ” An Oct. 31 trial date has been set for 11 defendants accused of taking part in acts of ecosabotage over a five-year period.

Two of the accused were released on bail Thursday after hearings in federal court. Five defendants remain in custody and three remain at large.

Suzanne Savoie, 28, was released after posting property she owns jointly in Northern California worth $45,000. In addition, the mother of Savoie’s boyfriend posted $5,000 in cash and agreed to serve as third-party custodian, responsible for reporting to officials if Savoie violates her terms of release.



Savoie is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit arson and one count of arson involving the Superior Lumber Co. office in Glendale in 2001.

Jonathan Christopher Mark Paul, 40, was released after posting $700,000 in security. Paul was ordered to report regularly to federal officials, have no contact with witnesses in the case, remain in Oregon and refrain from opening any new financial accounts or lines of credit.

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U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin warned Paul that the release conditions must be followed “scrupulously.”

Paul, widely known among activists for disrupting legal whale hunts by an American Indian tribe in Washington, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit arson and one count of arson involving the Cavel West horse meat-packing plant near Redmond in 1997. He faces a mandatory 10-year prison term if convicted of all counts.

Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, 28, also was in court on Thursday to be arraigned on a new indictment released Friday, which names her as a conspirator and links her to five separate attacks. If convicted on all charges, she faces at least 70 years in prison.

Coffin earlier refused to release her pending trial.

Vail, Colorado


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