Joseph Divie, a former supporter of the Global Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, was sentenced to a statute of limitations in federal court in Eugene on Tuesday and ordered to pay $1.3 million in compensation.
Joe Debbie sits on the steps leading to his family’s home in Seattle on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021.
Megan Farmer / KUOW
In April, Dibbie pleaded guilty to the 1997 arson attack on the Cavell West slaughterhouse in central Oregon. He also defended the case of setting fire to an enclosure.
As part of his plea bargain, federal prosecutors dropped arson charges facing Dibbie in Washington state as well.
In the 1990s, the US Department of Justice considered the Global Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front to be the nation’s greatest terrorist threats. Between 1995 and 2001, people associated with these groups and known as “The Family” caused a series of arson attacks that caused him more than $45 million in damages.
One of the most famous fires was in 1997 when it destroyed the Two Elk ski lodge in Vail, Colorado. Dibee has nothing to do with the incident.
The FBI arrested Dibee in Havana, Cuba in 2018. He has lived in Russia and Syria as an international fugitive for over a decade. After his arrest, Dibbie spent his 29 months in pretrial detention, then placed on home arrest in Seattle.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken also included 1,000 hours of community service and supervised release in Divie’s sentence. Aiken has overseen litigation spanning decades since his inception involving more than 13 former defendants.
This story may be updated.
The federal government claims that Joseph Davey and a group of other environmental activists caused significant damage to the Cabel West horse slaughterhouse in Madras, Oregon in 1997.
Via the Federal Bureau of Investigation
