rss feedReport: Man suspected in 2001 firebombing at UW jailed in China on drug charges
A 30-year-old man that U.S. authorities say had a role in making firebombs used in a 2001 attack on the University of Washington has been convicted on drug charges in a mountainous region of China, The New York Times reported Friday.
Justin Solondz will serve a three-year jail sentence issued by a Chinese court in Dali, which is located in Yunnan province. Dali police said they found 33 pounds of marijuana in his rented house, Times reporter Dan Levin wrote.
A local prosecutor said that Solondz, an environmental activist in the United States, also had a “drug laboratory” at his house, according to the newspaper article.
After Solondz, who apparently used two aliases in China, finishes his jail sentence, he will be sent to the United States to stand charges for his reported involvement in an “arson rampage” in Washington, Oregon and California.
In Washington, officials believe that Solondz made firebombs that were used in an attack on the UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture. He was accused, in absentia, the Times reported.
In a 2008 article for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reporter Paul Shukovsky wrote that his girlfriend at the time, Briana Waters, received a six-year sentence in federal prison for that attack.
Waters, a violin teacher, let Solondz make firebombs in her Olympia, Wash. house, federal prosecutors in Seattle said. A federal jury found her guilty in March 2008.
Federal authorities linked the attacks to some members of the Earth Liberation Front, a group that opposes genetic engineering labs.
The case became complex because federal officials used the word “terrorist” to describe the people involved in the attacks.
Solondz’s mother has said she doesn’t believe her son was involved in arson. The Time also said that his father does not believe that his son is a terrorist.
The Seattle Times coverage of Waters’ sentencing can be found here.
UPDATE: The Associated Press has moved a story, including quotes from a federal prosecutor in Seattle. Also, see the FBI notice regarding Solondz.
