Post by Okwes on Jul 26, 2006 10:08:25 GMT -5
Activist Coronado charged with possessing feathers of protected birds
By Tom Beal Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.25.2006
www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/139389.php
<http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/139389.php>
OAS_AD('300x250_1') Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is
awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March
2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged
with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected
birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two
misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory
bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado’s
Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges.
In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of
a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk,
Cooper’s hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are
misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said.
Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered
member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis.
Coronado’s Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a
member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the
issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge.
“The pending sentencing before Judge Bury is more important right
now, and the charges against him in San Diego are more serious,”
Felix said. Coronado was scheduled to be sentenced Monday by U.S.
District Judge David C. Bury for conspiracy to prevent federal officials
from doing their duty, interfering with forest officers and degradation
of government property. Those charges were filed after Coronado and two
others were arrested in Sabino Canyon as U.S. Forest Service and Arizona
Game and Fish officers hunted for mountain lions that they said had lost
their fear of humans. The sentencing of Coronado and co-defendant
Matthew Crozier was postponed until Aug. 7 at the request of federal
prosecutors. A third defendant, Esquire magazine writer John Richardson,
pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a forest officer and was
sentenced to the time he had already served after his arrest. The
February search of Coronado’s Tucson home came as FBI agents
arrested him on a federal count of demonstrating a destructive device,
an indictment made by a U.S. District Court grand jury in the Southern
District of California. In a video recording of that appearance,
available widely on the Internet and shown on the CBS news magazine
“60 Minutes,” Coronado demonstrates the methods he used to
set fire to a mink researcher’s office at Michigan State
University in 1992. He was convicted and served four years in prison
for that arson. Coronado led the disruption of the mountain-lion hunt
as an action of the Tucson chapter of Earth First, which is known as
“Chuk’shon Earth First!” He has been a spokesman in
the past for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation
Front (ELF), groups the FBI has identified as domestic terrorists.
By Tom Beal Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.25.2006
www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/139389.php
<http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/139389.php>
OAS_AD('300x250_1') Animal-rights activist Rodney Coronado, who is
awaiting sentencing on convictions related to disruption of the March
2004 mountain-lion hunt in Sabino Canyon, has been additionally charged
with possessing the feathers of a golden eagle and other protected
birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cited Coronado Friday on two
misdemeanor counts of possessing golden eagle feathers and migratory
bird feathers, said Frank Solis, special agent for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. He said the feathers were found at Coronado’s
Tucson home in February when the FBI arrested him on unrelated charges.
In addition to the eagle feathers, Solis said, agents found feathers of
a great horned owl, barn owl, great blue heron, redtail hawk,
Cooper’s hawk and Harris hawk. The citations, which are
misdemeanor charges, seek a combined fine of $1,350, Solis said.
Coronado could legally possess the feathers if he were a registered
member of an American Indian tribe, but he is not, said Solis.
Coronado’s Tucson attorney Antonio Felix said Coronado is a
member of the Yaqui Tribe but Felix said he was still researching the
issue of tribal registration and could not comment on the new charge.
“The pending sentencing before Judge Bury is more important right
now, and the charges against him in San Diego are more serious,”
Felix said. Coronado was scheduled to be sentenced Monday by U.S.
District Judge David C. Bury for conspiracy to prevent federal officials
from doing their duty, interfering with forest officers and degradation
of government property. Those charges were filed after Coronado and two
others were arrested in Sabino Canyon as U.S. Forest Service and Arizona
Game and Fish officers hunted for mountain lions that they said had lost
their fear of humans. The sentencing of Coronado and co-defendant
Matthew Crozier was postponed until Aug. 7 at the request of federal
prosecutors. A third defendant, Esquire magazine writer John Richardson,
pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a forest officer and was
sentenced to the time he had already served after his arrest. The
February search of Coronado’s Tucson home came as FBI agents
arrested him on a federal count of demonstrating a destructive device,
an indictment made by a U.S. District Court grand jury in the Southern
District of California. In a video recording of that appearance,
available widely on the Internet and shown on the CBS news magazine
“60 Minutes,” Coronado demonstrates the methods he used to
set fire to a mink researcher’s office at Michigan State
University in 1992. He was convicted and served four years in prison
for that arson. Coronado led the disruption of the mountain-lion hunt
as an action of the Tucson chapter of Earth First, which is known as
“Chuk’shon Earth First!” He has been a spokesman in
the past for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation
Front (ELF), groups the FBI has identified as domestic terrorists.