Springfield man charged in 2001 arson at Eugene truck lot.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

A Springfield man, one of six suspects arrested last week in a sweeping federal investigation of arson by radical environmentalists, has been charged with the 2001 arson of 35 sport utility vehicles that caused $1 million in damage at the Romania Truck Center in Eugene.

Kevin M. Tubbs, 36, is scheduled for arraignment Monday in federal court in Eugene on 35 counts of arson and one of using firebombs in a violent crime. He faces a potential life sentence in prison if convicted on the charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland.

"The investigation continues, and we anticipate additional arrests as time goes on," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall said Friday.

Court records reveal little about the Romania arson investigation, but a search warrant affidavit that led to the six arrests last week presents a sketchy picture of a cell of radical activists who used false identities, produced and shared technical information on making firebombs, and were associated in some cases for more than a decade.

For example, the March 30, 2001, Romania arson for which Tubbs is charged occurred as lawyers prepared for the trial of Jeffrey "Free" Luers for an arson at the Romania property in June 2000. Luers eventually was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison and became a celebrity among environmental activists who claim he is a political prisoner.

One of the suspects in the current arson investigations, Daniel Gerard McGowan, 31, kept a photograph of himself and Luers in his New York City apartment, according to a search warrant affidavit in the current investigation. McGowan also kept a videotape titled, "Jeffrey 'Free' Luers Story," and folders of Luers' articles and fliers.

An anonymous informant who is assisting federal officials links Tubbs to an arson at Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale, for which McGowan has been indicted. The Jan. 2, 2001, Glendale arson destroyed at least 10 vehicles and damaged a shop and office building, according to court records.

The anonymous informant admitted participating in the Glendale arson, and in one at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie in May 2001. The informant links Tubbs and McGowan to the Clatskanie blaze, for which Chelsea Dawn Gerlach was indicted this week.

Gerlach, 28, a former Eugene resident, is scheduled for arraignment Monday for the Clatskanie arson and for a $1.2 million arson at the Child- ers Meat Co. in Eugene in 1999.

Gerlach was arraigned this week for damaging a high-voltage transmission tower near Bend in 1999, a crime for which Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff will be arraigned on Monday, according to court records. Meyerhoff and Gerlach attended South Eugene High School together and shared the same Eugene address on Maclay Drive in 1994.

Using search warrants obtained with the affidavit, federal officials conducted simultaneous searches Dec. 7 at the homes of Meyerhoff, McGowan, Tubbs and William C. Rodgers.

At Rodgers' residence and bookstore, "Catalyst Infoshop and Bookstore" in Prescott, Ariz., officials found candles that re-light when extinguished, mechanical alarm clocks, sponges, incense and modified flashlights - parts commonly used in crude timing devices on firebombs.

The search warrant indicated unexploded bombs were found in the arson investigations, but did not indicate whether they matched any of the materials found in Rodgers' residence/bookstore. The informant told officials that Rodgers had been working on a manual titled, "Setting Fires with Electronic Timers," and had claimed it would help prevent activists from being caught when they set fires.

Rodgers also claimed he controlled all the magazines and publications of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), two groups that have claimed setting the fires covered in the federal indictments, according to court records.

A search of Rodgers' pickup truck turned up eight disks and one ZIP drive of encrypted data labeled, "backup," according to court records. The content of the data was not revealed and may require months of decoding work by forensic computer experts, the records indicate.

Computers and memory disks were a major target of federal investigators, along with journals, address and phone books in the suspects' homes.

They seized all those items at Meyerhoff's residence in Charlottesville, Va. They seized two computers and numerous data disks at McGowan's New York City apartment. At Tubbs' residence in Springfield, they seized police scanners, rechargeable two-way radios, a computer, two safes and more than two ounces of marijuana, according to court records.

Also found in Tubbs' house in the 500 block of South 71st Street were a birth certificate for a Canadian resident born in 1973, and other identification documents from a Californian born in 1970, according to court records.

Tubbs had fake identification under the name Ronald Calloway that he used to register a van, which broke down and was abandoned in one arson attempt, according to the search warrant affidavit. The affidavit also claims McGowan used three false names: Djenni McGowan, Dylan Kay, and Jamie Moran.

While the affidavit casts a conspiratorial shadow over the defendants, an ALF spokesman said the use of an anonymous informant should create skepticism.

"The use of a confidential informant has long been a tactic when they don't have any other evidence," said Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman in the North American Animal Liberation Press Office in Canoga Park, Calif.

Investigators can use a fictitious informant to leverage false testimony from individuals who are tricked into believing they are subject to long prison terms unless they cooperate, Vlasak said.

He said federal agents use grand juries to force testimony from people in "fishing expeditions" on crimes for which they have no evidence. He said grand juries currently are empaneled in Eugene, San Francisco and San Diego to investigate alleged arsons by environmental activists.

Activists frequently go to jail for not appearing for grand jury questioning, he said.

"Activists are naturally leery of grand juries," Vlasak said. "The saying is: A grand jury can indict a tomato sandwich."

Vlasak predicted the cases will result in dropped charges, less serious convictions or acquittals.