ELF members voice apologies, regrets.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

Expressing remorse for their crimes, two key defendants pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and arson for their roles in a secretive cell of environmental radicals charged in a federal investigation of a five-year spree of attacks in five states.

A third defendant in the case also pleaded guilty Friday, becoming the sixth to enter plea deals requiring cooperation with the government in prosecuting seven others charged in the conspiracy.

The guilty pleas of Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff and Chelsea Dawn Gerlach on Friday settle the cases of all of the most prolific arsonists arrested in the alleged conspiracy. Four other defendants await trial. Three others, including one allegedly prolific arsonist, remain fugitives.

In a brief statement in court, Meyerhoff, 29, renounced his involvement with the Earth Liberation Front. In a plea deal for a sentence of 15 years and eight months, he pleaded guilty to 54 charges - including conspiracy and arson related to seven separate attacks.

He also will plead guilty to eight arson counts in a separate indictment for an attack at a Vail, Colo., ski resort in 1998 that caused $12 million in damage and focused national attention on radical environmentalists.

As part of the deal, authorities in Michigan, Arizona, Washington, Wyoming and California will not prosecute potential cases against him, according to court records.

"I walked away from the ELF," Meyerhoff told U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken on Friday.

In a statement issued by his lawyers, Meyerhoff expressed his "deepest apologies" to anyone harmed by his acts.

Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, 29, who formerly lived with Meyerhoff, pleaded guilty to 18 charges - including conspiracy and arson in five separate attacks. She also will plead guilty to eight arson charges stemming from her role in the Vail attack.

In a statement to Aiken, Gerlach apologized and said it was not her intention to hurt or frighten anyone, although she realizes that is what happened.

"These acts were motivated by a deep sense of despair and anger at the deteriorating state of the global environment and the escalating inequities within society," she said. "But I realized years ago this was not an effective or appropriate way to effect positive change. I have taken responsibility for what I have done and will make amends by being a voice for peace in an increasingly hostile and polarized world."

Gerlach will get a 10-year sentence under her plea deal, unless her lawyer can persuade Aiken to impose less time. As part of the deal, authorities in Wyoming, Washington and California will not prosecute potential cases against Gerlach, according to court records.

The third defendant in court Friday, Suzanne Nicole Savoie, 29, pleaded guilty to 15 charges - including conspiracy and arson - in a deal for a sentence of five years and three months.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall indicated Savoie participated in the conspiracy and served as a driver and lookout on two separate attacks in 2001, one at Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale and another at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie. She was allowed to remain free on $50,000 bail.

Meyerhoff and Gerlach admitted to the following attacks: a 1999 arson at the Childers Meat Co. and a 2000 attempted arson on the Eugene Police Department's West University Substation in Eugene; arson at the Boise Cascade office in Monmouth in 1999; arson at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie in 2001; and sabotage to a power transmission line in Deschutes County in 1999.

Meyerhoff also admitted to arson at the former Romania truck dealership in Eugene and at the Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale, both in 2001.

Defendants Kevin Tubbs, 37; Darren Todd Thurston, 34; and Kendall Tankersley, 29, pleaded guilty Thursday.

Sentencing for all six is scheduled for Dec. 14 in federal court in Eugene. Trial for the other four is scheduled for Oct. 31.