A Seattle man with ties and environmental extremist groups pleaded guilty to conspiring to set fire to commercial and government-owned animal processing facilities in Oregon, California, almost two decades after fleeing America. Federal prosecutors stated.
Joseph Mahmoud Dibee (now 53), fled the country in 2005. He was first indicted by an Oregon federal grand jury in 2006. Prosecutors stated that Mr. Dibee’s criminal case in Washington’s Western District was over and that he pleaded guilty on Thursday.
According to court documents, Mr. Dibee conspired to harm commercial and government-owned animal processing facilities with improvised explosives made with fuel-filled milk containers and model rocket igniters.
The Family is a group of members who pledged to keep their identities from law enforcement. They searched the sites they were targeting, and used time-delayed explosives in order to light fires.
Prosecutors stated that the Family was involved in more than 40 criminal acts, which resulted in more than $45 Million in damages between 1995 and 2001. One of the most significant arson attacks against the Family occurred at the Vail Ski Resort, Oregon, in October 1998, causing damage estimated to be $26 million. According to the F.B.I.
The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front were both founded. DescribedJohn E. Lewis was the then deputy assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He identified them as the most active criminal extremeist elements in the United States, and a serious domestic terrorist risk. The A.L.F. was founded in Britain in mid-1970s. The A.L.F. used violent tactics and took direct action against individuals or entities it believed were abusing animals, Mr. Lewis stated at the time to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In court documents, Mr. Dibee has been named as a participant of three attacks in different states. These include the destruction of a Redmond, Ore. meatpacking facility in 1997 and a fire at a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection station in Olympia, Wash. in 1998. MembersIt was part the great cleansing process to end this war on nature. Also, a 2001 attempt by government to burn a facility that had been used for wild horses removal from public lands near Litchfield (Calif.)
In December 2005, Mr. Dibee fled to the United States to evade arrest. This was in preparation for federal indictments in Oregon, California’s Eastern District, and Washington. This followed a domestic terror investigation, federal prosecutors said.
The F.B.I. The F.B.I. suspected that Mr. Dibee might be in Syria. Thirteen years later in the summer 2018, he was ArrestBefore boarding the plane heading to Russia, the Cuban authorities informed him of their rights and he was returned to the United States.
Kieran L. Ramsey (special agent in charge F.B.I.), said that Mr. Dibees tried everything, from destroying evidence and fleeing the country. None of these tactics stopped us making sure he was held accountable. in Oregon.
Through Matthew Schindler, Mr. Dibee declined to comment.
In Interview last yearOregon Public Broadcasting challenged Mr. Dibee’s government labeling of his criminal charges for domestic terrorism.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that most cases in which the government accuses terrorism are not. Mr. Dibee stated to Oregon Public Broadcasting that he was more likely to be accused of that as an Arab man living here in America. He also denied that he was involved in any organized environmental groups during the interview.
The truth is that Im an environmentalist and someone decided to claim that Im part of an organization that doesn’t exist.
Prosecutors stated that Mr. Dibee would make restitution to his victims, as ordered by the court. Their recommended sentence was 87 month in federal prison. Judge Ann Aiken, U.S. District Court in Oregon, will sentence Mr. Dibee in July.
Prosecutors say Josephine Sunshine Overaker is still on the run as one of Mr. Dibees co-conspirators. She faces 19 felony counts in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.