Colorado arson suspects arraigned.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

Two central defendants in a major federal probe of arson by environmental radicals were arraigned Wednesday in federal court in Eugene on charges stemming from the $12 million arsons at a Vail, Colo., ski resort in 1998.

Chelsea Dawn Gerlach and Stanilas Gregory Meyerhoff, each 29, are scheduled to enter pleas and be sentenced on eight counts of arson in the Vail fires on Dec. 14, when they are also to be sentenced for other arson-related crimes to which they pleaded guilty in July.

Under plea deals the pair made with federal prosecutors, both agreed to have the Colorado charges transferred to Oregon to be settled along with their other arson cases. The Vail crimes focused national attention on radical environmentalists who credit their attacks to the secretive Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front.

The Vail fires are one of 18 separate attacks charged to a group of 13 alleged co-conspirators that happened between 1996 and 2001. The case, dubbed Operation Backfire by federal investigators, is the largest-ever indictment of a radical environmental group.

Meyerhoff, 29, who has publicly renounced his involvement with ELF, earlier pleaded guilty to 54 charges related to seven separate attacks in a plea deal for a sentence of 15 years and eight months, according to court records.

As part of his deal, authorities in Michigan, Arizona, Washington, Wyoming and California will not prosecute potential cases against him,

according to court records.

Gerlach pleaded guilty to 18 charges in five separate attacks. She has publicly apologized for the harm and fear created by her actions, which she said were motivated by "a deep sense of despair and anger at the deteriorating state of the global environment."

Gerlach will get a 10-year sentence under her plea deal unless the judge decides on a shorter term. Authorities in Wyoming, Washington and California agreed not to pursue potential cases against Gerlach, according to court records.

Of the 13 defendants, six have pleaded guilty, four face trial and three are currently fugitives.