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November 9, 2006 Update:<br><br>
Friends and supporters,<br><br>
We would like to inform everyone about the events in court today.
<br>
After months of negotiations and consideration, Daniel, along with
<br>
Jonathan Paul, Joyanna Zacher and Nathan Block, pled guilty to some
of <br>
the many charges. We cannot emphasize enough what an extremely
<br>
difficult decision this was for Daniel and we will continue to give
<br>
him our full support.<br><br>
We do not want there to be any confusion about Daniel's plea
agreement <br>
so we have posted it here. Daniel agreed to plead guilty with the
<br>
understanding that he would not implicate or identify anyone at all
<br>
other than himself. The other three remaining co-defendants entered
<br>
pleas with the same terms. Daniel has done everything possible to
<br>
maintain his integrity, and he wants to be as open about his
agreement <br>
as possible. We have also provided Daniel's statement to Judge
Aiken <br>
and Daniel's lawyers statement below.<br><br>
As we already stated, we will continue to support Daniel
completely. <br>
He and his family have been through an extremely difficult time and
<br>
deserve to get through this with the best possible outcome.<br><br>
We will be posting information shortly about how others can
continue <br>
to help Daniel by submitting letters to the judge.<br><br>
Please keep in mind that our fight is not over. We will still need
<br>
your help and support in the coming months, in order to fight for
the <br>
least possible sentence for Daniel.<br><br>
Thank you for your continued support,<br>
Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan<br><br>
Download Daniel's Plea Agreement (PDF)<br><br>
<br>
Daniel's Statement to Judge Aiken at the plea hearing<br><br>
November 9, 2006<br><br>
Your Honor,<br><br>
This plea agreement is very important to me, because it allows me
to <br>
accept full responsibility for my actions and at the same time
remain <br>
true to my strongly held beliefs.<br><br>
I hope that you will see that my actions were not those of
terrorist <br>
but of a concerned young person who was deeply troubled by the
<br>
destruction of Oregon's beautiful old-growth forests and the
dangers <br>
of genetically modified trees. After taking part in these two
actions, <br>
I realized that burning things down did not fit with my visions or
<br>
belief about how to create a better world. So I stopped committing
<br>
these crimes.<br><br>
This last year has been a very trying time for my family and I
would <br>
like to extend my deepest love, admiration and appreciation to them
<br>
for standing by me through a very difficult time. I would also like
to <br>
apologize to the workers of the companies I targeted. I never
intended <br>
to hurt people, so when I read about things like family photos
being <br>
destroyed, I felt great remorse. I am truly sorry for the harm that
I <br>
caused.<br><br>
Your Honor, after May of 2001, I put myself back on the path of
open <br>
and positive activism. Since then I have focused on helping victims
of <br>
domestic violence, campaigning for the environment, and advocating
for <br>
prisoners. While my commitment to pursuing a better world has not
and <br>
will not change, I have changed the way I am pursuing those goals.
My <br>
agreement with Mr. Paul, Mr. Block and Ms. Zacher to come together
and <br>
resolve this case by taking responsibility for what we did is an
<br>
important step in moving forward to have what I hope will be a
<br>
positive impact on my community. Thank you for allowing me a few
<br>
moments to speak to you this morning.<br><br>
<br>
Press Release<br>
Contact: Amanda Lee or Jeffery Robinson, Schroeter Goldmark &
Bender<br>
Tel: 206-622-8000, lee@sgb-law.com, robinson@sgb-law.com.<br><br>
November 9, 2006<br><br>
Daniel McGowan today entered pleas of guilty in connection with two
<br>
arsons in 2001 - one at Superior Lumber in Glendale and one at
<br>
Jefferson Poplar in Clatskanie.<br><br>
Mr. McGowan accepts full responsibility for what he did. As Mr.
<br>
McGowan told Judge Aiken, after taking part in these two arsons, he
<br>
realized that they did not fit with his vision or beliefs about how
to <br>
create a better world. He abandoned that course.<br><br>
In entering a plea agreement with the government, Mr. McGowan did
not <br>
abandon his deeply held beliefs. One of his conditions was that he
<br>
would not try to get a reduced sentence by implicating or
identifying <br>
other people the government may seek to prosecute, either now or
<br>
later. In a meeting this week with the government, Mr. McGowan gave
a <br>
truthful and honest account of what he did. He did not identify or
<br>
implicate any other individual. He and the other three defendants
who <br>
pled guilty today helped the government close this case by coming
<br>
forward together, to take responsibility. The government agrees
that <br>
by doing this, Mr. McGowan and the other defendants are all
eligible <br>
for a reduced sentence.<br><br>
All of this is set forth in Mr. McGowan's plea agreement. The
entire <br>
agreement is in the record and available to the public.<br><br>
Since 2001, Mr. McGowan has focused on positive, constructive, and
<br>
practical activism. He works to prevent domestic violence and to
<br>
assist victims. He organizes markets in which every good and
service <br>
is free to all. He works as an advocate for prisoners and
encourages <br>
others to support them with letters, books and money for food and
<br>
phone calls. He studies acupuncture and plans to earn a Master's
<br>
degrees we can provide alternative medicine services to needy
patients.<br><br>
Mr. McGowan would like to apologize to the people he harmed or
could <br>
have harmed the people whose family photos were destroyed in the
<br>
fires, the firefighters who responded to the scene, to workers
whose <br>
lives were disrupted. Harming people is never what Daniel intended,
<br>
and he is deeply sorry.<br>
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