Feds agree not to retry convicted arsonist on deadlocked counts in U. of Wash. ecoterror fire

By GENE JOHNSON

Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE (AP) -- A woman convicted of arson in an ecoterror attack on a plant research center will not be retried on more serious charges under an agreement with federal prosecutors signed Thursday.

The jury that convicted Briana Waters of two counts of arson this month deadlocked on three other counts, including using a destructive device during a crime of violence, which carries a 30-year minimum prison sentence.

The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle moved to dismiss those three counts. Waters agreed that if her convictions are overturned on appeal, the government can refile the charges -- even if the statute of limitations has run out.

Prosecutors said Waters acted as a lookout for other Earth Liberation Front activists who set the 2001 fire that destroyed the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture. They said the center, rebuilt at a cost of $7 million, was targeted because the activists mistakenly believed scientists there were genetically engineering poplar trees.

Prosecutors also said Waters obtained a rental car used in the crime. The 32-year-old violin teacher from Oakland, Calif., faces five to 20 years at sentencing, set for May 30.

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Sullivan said in a news release that since jurors "held Ms. Waters accountable for the criminal conduct at the heart of this case," it was time to move on.

One of Waters' attorneys, Neil Fox, said he had no comment on the agreement.

The university fire was one of at least 17 fires set around the West from 1996 to 2001 by an Olympia, Wash., and Eugene, Ore., cell of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.

Two women who pleaded guilty in the UW fire, Lacey Phillabaum and Jennifer Kolar, testified against Waters. The other two alleged participants in the UW fire were William Rodgers, who committed suicide soon after his arrest, and Justin Solondz, Waters' boyfriend at the time, who remains at large.