Denver Anarchist Black Cross

On Monday, September 13, 2010, Scott DeMuth pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act for his role in the April 29, 2006 ALF raid on Lakeside Ferrets, Inc., in Howard Lake, Minnesota. The plea was to a lesser included charge of the second superseding indictment (available here: http://davenportgrandjury.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/10-0413second-superceding-indictment.pdf) for an action causing less than $10,000 in damage, and carries a maximum of six months in prison and a period of supervised release. As a condition of Scott’s plea, the government has agreed to ask for a sentence of the full six months in prison, but not to ask for the imposition of any fine. This is NOT a cooperating plea agreement; Scott has not been asked to testify against anyone else, nor would he do so. Though the action in question was committed in a different federal district and, according to Judge Jarvey, lacked any connection to the Southern District of Iowa, Scott also agreed to waive his right to contest the venue in which it was prosecuted. Scott’s sentencing has been scheduled for December 15, 2010, with a surrender date likely to be set for early 2011. In the meantime, the government raised no objection to his continued release, and agreed to the removal of his electronic monitoring, stating that he “poses no flight risk.” The plea agreement is available at: http://davenportgrandjury.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/09-13plea-agreement.pdf

Though Scott has accepted responsibility for the Lakeside Ferrets raid, we fundamentally disagree with the government’s position that such acts of liberation warrant punishment, and we do not believe that the resolution of this case is a simple matter of guilt versus innocence. Despite the nominal right to a jury trial in US courts, the legal system functions in a manner that deprives defendants of just options. As happened with Scott, people are routinely threatened with overblown charges and disproportionate sentencing should they exercise their right to a trial in order to coerce guilty pleas. Prosecutors often take things a step further, ensnaring the friends and family of the accused. In this case, Assistant US Attorney Cliff Cronk subpoenaed Carrie Feldman and Sonja Silvernail to testify at Scott’s trial. Both Carrie and Sonja decided that they would refuse to testify, meaning that they would almost certainly have been held in contempt of court and could have been incarcerated for months or even years (there is no maximum sentence for criminal contempt). Thus, the risks associated with Scott going to trial included not only his own possible conviction and imprisonment, but also that of two friends and comrades.
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