Peter Young Signs Plea Agreement

It's been a long road to get here...

The legal battle is finally over. On August 29th, Peter signed a plea offer from the prosecution. On Friday September 2nd, Peter will plead guilty in Federal Court to two counts of animal enterprise
terrorism charges. He is expected to receive the maximum sentence of 2 years. With 4 months in, and 2 months good time, Peter is expected to walk free in just over 18 months (March 2007).

The deal has been in the works behind the scenes for 2 weeks. After working out the sticking points, an agreement was reached that both Peter and his lawyer were happy with. The deal breaker came when the prosecution agreed to include in the agreement, resolution of an
additional out of state charge, to which Peter will plead guilty with time to run concurrent
to his federal sentence. We have avoided publicizing this unrelated third charge until the dust settled to avoid unwanted publicity effecting the outcome, but will make the full details available shortly.

The federal charges which Peter will be pleading: Conspiracy to release mink from 6 fur farms in South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa; and the actual release of 2400 mink from a farm in Medford, Wisconsin. Altogether, Peter's involvement led to the release of approximately 10,000 mink who
would have otherwise been brutally murdered for their fur.

While an activist doing prison time for selfless acts is never "good news," given the weight of Peter's initial charges which carried the maximum of 82 years, the current climate of law
enforcement over animal liberation tactics, and the number of fur farm raids which
Peter was accused, we can at least say this: it could of been much worse.

It is worth noting that this is the same deal reached by Peter's co-defendant, Justin Samuel, the crucial difference being Justin turned informant to the FBI, while Peter refused cooperation at
every phase and received the same sentence.

Peter credits the outcome to the hard work of his attorney- who is made possible by so many generous benefactors - as well as everyone who wrote, donated money, passed out flyers, held benefits, visited him in jail, and a wonderful support team - all who made an otherwise
difficult time easy.

While the hearing on Friday with be rather short, people
from the mid-west
are encouraged to come.

When: Friday, Sept 2nd at 11am

Where: 120 N Henry St, Madison WI (4th floor)

Please stay tuned to the website, http://www.SupportPeter.com,
for a statement
from Peter as well as more updates!

Don't forget to write Peter!

Peter Young #223341
Dane County Jail
115 W Doty St
Madison, WI 53703