A woman was found guilty by a
federal jury Thursday, of two counts of arson for acting as lookout in the 2001
burning of the University
of Washington’s Center
for Urban Horticulture by members of the radical Earth Liberation Front.
Briana Waters, 32, had been
charged with five criminal counts, including conspiracy and use and possession
of a destructive device. The jury deadlocked on these counts, for which the
penalty could have been at least 35 years in jail. First Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mark Barlett said that prosecutors will announce within a week whether
they will retry Waters on the deadlocked counts.
Now Waters faces five to 20 years
in prison, the Associated Press informs. Five people were charged seven years
ago for the UW arson. Only Waters was trialed; two of the respondents pleaded
guilty, and testified against Waters hoping their sentences would be reduced.
One of the defendants became a fugitive, while the fourth committed suicide
after he was arrested.
A violin teacher from Oakland, Waters has a
three-year-old daughter, Kalliope, who has been frequently referred to throughout
the trial. During the trial that lasted 3 1/2 weeks, Waters was accused by the
prosecutors of having provided a rental car to take the arsonists to the UW on
May 21, 2001. She was also accused of being the lookout.
The witnesses also said that
Waters had taken part in planning the arson, and that the bombs were built by
Waters’ then-boyfriend in the garage of a house in Olympia rented by Waters, Seattle Post
Intelligencer reports.
The 2001 arson at the UW’s Center
for Urban Horticulture was carried out by the environmentalist activists as
they wrongly believed that it contained genetically engineered poplar trees. Samples
of rare and endangered plants were destroyed by the flames. The rebuilding of
the research center cost the University $7 million.
Waters will remain in the custody
of the U.S.
marshals until her sentencing in May.
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