Guilty Verdict in Tacoma Ecoterror Arson Trial

Guilty Verdict in Tacoma Ecoterror Arson Trial A federal jury in Tacoma has found Briana Waters guilty of arson for the 2001 ecoterror fire at the University of Washington. The 32-year-old from Oakland, Calif., faces a prison term of 5 to 20 years when she is sentenced May 30. Waters was convicted today on two counts, but the jury deadlocked on three other charges of conspiracy and using a destructive device in a crime of violence, which would have carried a minimum 30 years in prison. Waters closed her eyes and bowed her head as the verdict was announced. Waters was the lookout when the Earth Liberation Front set fire to the university's Center for Urban Horticulture. It cost the university $7 million to replace the building in Seattle. The ELF claimed responsibility for the fire because it believed, mistakenly, that a researcher was genetically modifying poplar trees. Copyright (c) 2008 The Seattle Times Company