Animal-rights bomber reveals terrorist group's workings

Animal-rights terrorists continued to recruit Douglas Joshua Ellerman even as he faced federal charges that could have landed him in prison for the rest of his life.

Coaxed by defense attorney Ronald J. Yengich, the teenage bomber revealed Wednesday that he was approached by former associates in the Animal Liberation Front after he was indicted for the March 11, 1997, attack on the Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative.However, Ellerman said he rebuffed the ALF contact because "I no longer claim affiliation with that group."

Appearing in court Wednesday afternoon for what was to have been a routine status conference, Ellerman instead accepted a plea agreement forged with U.S. Attorney David J. Schwendiman and pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the bombing.

Beyond admitting his guilt, Ellerman also provided U.S. District Court Senior Judge J. Thomas Greene with a detailed account of his actions and promised to cooperate with prosecutors in their continuing investigation of the crime.

Ellerman, 19, was indicted in June on 16 counts of malicious destruction of a building engaged in interstate commerce, using a destructive device (pipe bombs) during a crime of violence, illegally making bombs and aiding and abet-ting.

He faces a prison term of up to 50 years and fines totaling $750,000, though Schwendiman said the government is prepared to recommend he receive less than the minimum five-year sentence if his cooperation proves to be of "substantial assistance."

"That kind of cooperation can pave the way for a different, less onerous type sentence," Greene advised Ellerman.

The judge then delayed sentencing until May 6 to give prosecutors ample time to "debrief" Ellerman and assess the worth of his information.

Wasting no time, Ellerman immediately gave the court an explanation of his own role in the bombing.

Located at 8720 S. 700 West, the co-op was targeted by the ALF because it was a major player in the national and international fur trade, he said.

According to Ellerman, the shadowy ALF is an "underground, direct-action, terrorist group that commits actions like this" in opposition to the killing or mistreatment of animals.

The ALF has no formal structure or leadership, and there are no members or membership lists, as such, only an affiliation that is claimed through action, he said.