FBI: Suspect in eco-terrorism case surrenders

DENVER — One of the FBI’s most wanted in what is said to be the largest U.S. eco-terrorism case surrendered the authorities Thursday after nearly a decade on the run.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Portland, Ore., said Rebecca Jeanette Rubin, 39, turned herself to the FBI at the international border of Blaine, Washington.

Rubin’s arrest marks the end of her decade-long period as an international fugitive in the largest eco-terrorism case in United States history, said the U.S Attorney’s Office in Portland.

Rubin, is accused of a conspiracy act involving arson in five Western states from 1996 to 2001 with 12 other self-proclaimed members of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). She faces conspiracy and a total of eight counts of arson in Colorado, California and Oregon.

In August of 2007, ten members of the EFL and AFL pleaded guilty to conspiracy and multiple counts of arson in the U.S District Court in Eugene related to this case. The ten defendants received prison terms ranging from 156-37 months.

Federal officials say the group was known to coordinate attacks using firebombs on targets that included a Vail ski resort, federal wild horse corrals in Northern California and Eastern Oregon and an SUV dealership in Oregon.

Rubin will be transported to Oregon for trial after her first appear in the U.S District Court of Seattle.

Authorities say Joseph Mahmoud Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker remain at large as international fugitives for their role the fires.

Story written by Paula Vargas.