[News] Ray Luc Levasseur released after 20 years

Sun Aug 8 11:59:26 EDT 2004

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/040807lavasseur.shtml
Saturday, August 7, 2004

Paroled radical glad to be back in Maine

By GISELLE GOODMAN, Portland Press Herald Writer

<http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local//copyright.shtml>Copyright © 
2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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Staff photo by Jill Brady

Raymond Luc Levasseur, 57, arrives Friday at the Portland International 
Jetport. He was arrested in 1984 in a string of bombings and bank robberies 
over a nine-year period.

Jamila Levy Levasseur hugs her husband, Raymond Luc Levasseur, just before 
he enters Pharos House in Portland. He will live at the halfway house and 
is scheduled to be released Nov. 4. Until then, he will only be able to 
leave the house to look for work or attend religious services.

The man Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood described as "truly a 
revolutionary" arrived Friday afternoon at the Portland International 
Jetport, ready to settle back into the city as a changed man.

Raymond Luc Levasseur, now 57, was a member of the "Ohio Seven," a group 
responsible for 19 bombings and 10 bank robberies over a nine-year period 
that began in the 1970s. Arrested in the 1980s, Levasseur has spent the 
past 20 years in custody for his role in the crimes.

Chitwood asserted Thursday that Levasseur still poses a threat, and said he 
doesn't believe Levasseur is rehabilitated. But Jamila Levy Levasseur said 
her husband is not the dangerous man authorities make him out to be.

"We've all changed in 30 years. I have complete confidence that he can make 
it. He's not going to be returning to prison. He intends to live a 
law-abiding life," she said outside Pharos House, a halfway house on Grant 
Street where her husband will spend the next three months.

"The U.S. Probations and Parole (Office) would not have granted him parole 
and would not have approved his coming to this halfway house if they didn't 
believe he was safe," Jamila Levasseur said. "I believe he'll be an asset 
to the community."

In 1986, Raymond Levasseur was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role 
in numerous bombings at corporate offices and military installations. He 
became eligible for parole after 10 years of imprisonment. He was released 
after serving 20 years, to be supervised by the government for the 
remainder of his sentence, minus credit for good behavior. He is still 
technically serving his sentence in the community.

"Mr. Levasseur will be under supervision for a long time," said Claire 
Cooper, chief of the federal Office of Probation and Parole.

He will live at Pharos House until his scheduled release Nov. 4. He will 
only be able to leave the building to look for work or attend religious 
services. While on parole, Levasseur will be required to stay in the state 
and keep in touch with his parole officer, and he is barred from using 
illegal drugs or engaging in criminal conduct.

A parole violation could result in having to complete his sentence in prison.

At the jetport, where he arrived about 5 p.m. on Delta Flight 1706 from 
Atlanta, Levasseur claimed he could not talk about his past because of 
parole restrictions. But he did say he was happy to be home.

"I'm from Maine. This is where I grew up, this is where my family is. It's 
where my heart is," he said in a jetport parking garage surrounded by 
reporters. Looking worn and sporting less hair than he did the last time he 
was chased by reporters, he said he was most looking forward to reuniting 
with his family.

"I want to see my mom, my mama, she's going to be 83 in a couple of weeks," 
he said. "She's my No. 1 supporter since I was in Vietnam. She always stood 
by me."

He left the airport in a car displaying a bumper sticker that said: 
"Solidarity."

Levasseur grew up in Sanford and joined the Army at age 19. He served in 
Vietnam, where he became radicalized by what he saw as racist treatment of 
the Vietnamese people. He received an honorable discharge and came to 
Portland in 1971 after spending time in jail for selling marijuana.

Once here, he joined with Thomas Manning and worked on anti-war causes. In 
1975 he was arrested in Connecticut on a firearms violation, then jumped 
bail. On the run for the next nine years, he, Manning, their wives, 
children and allies moved around, committing the bombings and robberies 
that eventually sent Levasseur to jail.

He was married at the time to Patricia Gros, who was arrested with him in 
1985. Manning, meanwhile, admitted to killing a New Jersey state trooper, 
claiming self-defense. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison in addition 
to 53 years for a separate bombing conviction.

Some Portland police officers are hopeful Levasseur's return to the city 
won't be problematic.

"He's on parole and he has a plan associated with that," said Deputy Chief 
William Ridge. "He's a smart guy. He'll know how to make it through the plan."

The fact that Levasseur is settling in next door to him on Grant Street 
doesn't bother Doug Sneed. He said Levasseur has paid for his crimes.

"The guy's 50 years old. He's a grandfather. He's not a threat to society," 
Sneed said. "At 50, what's he going to do, go out and rob banks? What 
revolution? There is no more revolution. Those times are gone."

Staff writers Gregory Kesich and David Hench contributed to this report.

RAYMOND LEVASSEUR: BOMBINGS, THEN ON THE RUN

May 1977: Raymond Levasseur's name is placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted 
List.

November 1984: Seven years as a fugitive end with his arrest by the FBI in 
Deerfield, Ohio.

March 1986: Levasseur and five other radicals are tried in U.S. District 
Court in New York for numerous bombings at corporate offices and military 
installations. Levasseur is convicted and, a month later, sentenced to 45 
years in prison.

August 2004: Police say Levasseur is about to be paroled to a federal 
halfway house in Portland.

SOME OF THE 22 bombings linked to Levasseur's groups:

April 1976: Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston.

May 1976: Central Maine Power's headquarters in Augusta.

July 1976: U.S. Post Office, Seabrook, N.H.

May 1983: Roosevelt Army Reserve Center, Long Island and Navy Reserve 
Center, Queens, N.Y.

September 1984: Union Carbide offices, Mt. Pleasant, N.Y.

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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