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<font size=3> From: freemarie@riseup.net<br>
<br>
<br>
The following was written by a friend and supporter of Marie's with
the<br>
Fifth Estate Collective. Marie is scheduled for a change of plea
hearing<br>
tomorrow. We will post Marie's unredacted plea as soon as it is
accepted<br>
by the court.<br>
<br>
Struggle,<br>
Got Your Back Collective<br>
<a href="http://www.freemarie.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freemarie.org<br>
</a> <br>
<br>
On Monday, September 8, 2008 Midwest “Green Scare” arrestee Marie
Mason<br>
accepted a plea bargain offered by federal authorities.<br>
<br>
The “Green Scare” is the name given to the recent arrests of animal
rights<br>
and ecological activists who have been charged with acts of
economic<br>
sabotage, in which federal authorities have sought outrageous
sentences<br>
(often Life in prison) and have publicly and legally labeled the
activists<br>
as “terrorists”, despite the fact that no one has been hurt in any
of the<br>
actions.<br>
<br>
Mason was arrested in March 2008 and charged with four felony
offenses,<br>
which were related to two 1999 actions of eco-sabotage in which no
one was<br>
hurt. Mason’s arrest was based on information provided by Frank
Ambrose,<br>
Mason’s former husband, who unbeknownst to her had been cooperating
with<br>
authorities for a number of years, and who entered his own plea
bargain in<br>
March of 2008.<br>
<br>
Mason has been an activist in the environmental and labor movement
for 25<br>
years, and has resisted cooperating with authorities in a number
grand<br>
juries. Since her arrest, Mason and her lawyer have been pushing
for a<br>
non-cooperating agreement of the kind that other “Green Scare”
arrestees<br>
have been able to get from west coast prosecutors.<br>
<br>
However, federal prosecutors in Michigan have refused to offer her
a<br>
similar deal. The only plea-bargain offered was for 15-20 years but
which<br>
required her to implicate other activists by name. Additionally it
was<br>
stipulated that if Mason did not accept this offer by Friday,
September 5,<br>
prosecutors were going to ask for Life at the trial, and also
indict her<br>
on new charges relating to two other eco-sabotage actions. Mason
refused<br>
this offer since it required her providing information against
other<br>
activists and prepared to go to trial.<br>
<br>
On September 5, two hours before the deadline, federal
prosecutors<br>
relented and offered a new deal, which required Mason only to name
Frank<br>
Ambrose in her plea bargain. No information that Ambrose had not
already<br>
provided was required from her. Additionally, the plea bargain
included<br>
clauses that do not require her to perform any debriefs (as
other<br>
non-cooperating Green Scare arrestees did) and did not require
any<br>
additional testimony.<br>
<br>
Mason consulted with several different attorneys concerning this
offer,<br>
including Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in
Eugene,<br>
Oregon. Their conclusion was that, despite the fact that Mason
would be<br>
required to name Ambrose in her deal, no activists would be hurt by
this<br>
agreement, including Ambrose himself. The likely reason that Mason
is<br>
required to name Ambrose is because one of the four charges against
Mason<br>
is “conspiracy”, and another person is required to be named for
the<br>
charge.<br>
<br>
After holding out for six months and preparing to go to trial
rather than<br>
compromise other activists, this is not the deal that Mason would
like to<br>
accept, but it is the only option that federal authorities have
offered.<br>
Because of the cooperation of her former husband Ambrose, there is
no<br>
expectation that Mason would win a jury trial. Part of this
decision is<br>
also the long sentences handed to the very few Green Scare
arrestees who<br>
have gone to trail, such as Eric McDavid, as is the intense
financial and<br>
emotional strain that this process is taking on Mason’s immediate
family.<br>
<br>
Mason thanks her supporters for all their efforts. She understands
that<br>
some of them will be unhappy with her decision to accept a plea
bargain<br>
which names only Frank Ambrose, even though no additional
information is<br>
provided about him which he has not already divulged by him, and
that her<br>
own predicament is because of his choice to cooperate with
authorities.<br>
However, after holding out for six months in hope of a full<br>
non-cooperating plea, and preparing to go to trial despite the
impact it<br>
will have on her family and her future, she has decided to accept
this<br>
offer.<br>
<br>
In the spirit of full transparency, the plea bargain will be made
public<br>
shortly.<br><br>
<br><br>
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