Marie Mason Sentenced to 22 Years

http://supportmariemason.org/

Marie Mason received a 262 month sentence (a little under 22 years) today. She was also ordered to pay $4+ million in restitution.

The prosecution had asked for 20 years and agreed not to appeal if the sentence was at least 15.

Mason’s lawyer John Minock had argued that, compared to the other Green Scare cases in Oregon, “a non-disparate sentence would be less than 10 years.”

Mason’s sentence is the longest given to any Green Scare defendant to date.

A court report will be posted soon.

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http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-62/12336917...

DETROIT (AP) — A 20-year prison sentence for an activist who committed arson at Michigan State University would be "hugely disparate" when compared to more significant cases in the Pacific Northwest, her lawyer says.

"The government acknowledges it is by far the highest recommendation for any defendant in the country," John Minock said in a filing in federal court.

Marie Mason "is only in the middle in terms of culpability compared to the other cases. By character, she is among the least likely to pose future dangerousness, and poses none," Minock said.

Mason, 47, of Cincinnati will be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Lansing. An explosion and fire at Michigan State's Agriculture Hall caused more than $1 million in damage on New Year's Eve 1999.

Mason and Frank Ambrose, now divorced, were protesting research on genetically modified crops in the name of the Earth Liberation Front, a radical group known as ELF.

They have admitted other acts, including fires at homes under construction in the Detroit area and in Indiana. Mason and Ambrose are blamed for $4.1 million in damage from 1999 through 2003 in a series of incidents that can be considered by U.S. Chief District Judge Paul Maloney.

Prosecutors call it domestic terrorism and want a 20-year prison sentence. Ambrose is serving nine years, a major break, after working as an FBI informant and blowing the whistle on his ex-wife.

In a court filing Monday, Minock listed recent federal cases from the West where ELF activists caused 10 times as much damage in dollar terms but received less than 20 years.

The government's recommendation for Mason is "hugely disparate without a justifiable basis," he wrote.

Stan Meyerhoff committed arson at Vail ski resort, an Oregon car dealer, an Oregon tree farm and elsewhere. It added up to more than $30 million in damage, and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2007, Minock said.

"The government described him as a violent, career anarchist who traveled extensively to teach others how to make incendiary devices and timers," Minock wrote.

Unlike Ambrose, Mason refused to cooperate with federal investigators. It's a badge of honor among her allies on the Internet who promote her poetry and music and sell pro-Mason T-shirts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen Frank last week called her an "unapologetic advocate of violence and intimidation as a means of protest." Minock, however, describes her as remorseful.

The FBI in December searched her mother's home in Mecosta County, north of Grand Rapids, as part of a continuing investigation.

Mason was living there until Sept. 30 when a judge revoked her bond and sent her to jail to await her sentence. Frank feared she might have "itchy feet" and flee Michigan.

Two people who were aware of the Michigan State arson but didn't report it will also be sentenced Thursday. Aren Burthwick and Stephanie Fultz are hoping to avoid prison time for misprision of a felony.