Rebecca Rubin pleads guilty to freeing horses and setting fires at wild horse corrals
ALF prisoner expected to serve 5 to 7.5 years for freeing horses, setting fires at two government facilities.
Earlier this year, Rebecca Rubin turned herself in after 7 years on the run. She was wanted for Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front arsons as part of what was dubbed the “Green Scare case”, in which 13 people were charged with nearly 20 fires.
This week, Rebecca Rubin plead guilty to participating in and/or planning four arsons:
- 1997: Freeing 400 wild horses and setting fire to a U.S. Bureau of Land management corral in Burns, Oregon. (Claimed by the Animal Liberation Front)
- 1998: Participating in the planning of a fire at a Vail ski resort in Colorado.
- 1998: Fire at the headquarters of U.S. Forest Industries in Medford, Oregon (claimed by the Earth Liberation Front)
- 2001: Freeing horses and setting fire to a BLM horse and burro corral at Litchfield, California. (Claimed by the Animal Liberation Front)
Rubin was a fugitive for 7 years. Reportedly, she was set to turn herself in as early as 2009, however prosecutors would not agree to any plea agreement that did not involve Rubin implicating her codefendants, which Rubin refused to do.
According to her plea agreement, the government will not ask the judge for a sentence longer than 7.5 years. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 27
Of the 13 charged, two remain fugitives: Joseph Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker.
Current mailing address for this courageous woman is Rebecca Rubin #770288, Multinoma County Detention Center, 1120 S.W. Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204. See MacLeans Magazine July 15, 2013 for 11-page cover story on Rebecca by Ken MacQueen “Playing with Fire–How a Shy Animal Lover from Vancouver Became America’s Most Wanted Eco-Terrorist, a Tale of Conspiracy, Violence, and Betrayal.”