Daniel McGowan was sentenced to 7 years of prison with 3 years of supervised probation on June 4th, 2007. Judge Aiken gave Daniel one level of downward departure for the positive work he has been doing for the past 5 years; however, Daniel was given a terrorism enhancement for his role in an arson at Jefferson Poplar. He was the ninth of ten defendants to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in the past two weeks. McGowan was one of only four defendants to refuse to name names and implicate others who took part in similar actions. Along with other defendants in "Operation Backfire," McGowan will have to pay a restitution bill. After release, he will have to undergo alcohol and drug counseling, along with probation. Another non-cooperating co-defendant, Jonathan Paul, faces sentencing in the next few weeks- his sentence has been determined to be in "abeyance." Due to some objections raised by his lawyer, the sentence will be handed down in a couple of weeks after the lawyers go back and forth on paper one more time.

History from EcoPrisoners.org: On December 7th, 2005 federal and local law enforcement began the largest roundup of alleged environmental and animal liberation activists in American history. That day the FBI arrested six people in four different states and issued Grand Jury subpoenas to several others. Over the next few months, the number of arrests, indictments, and subpoenas would mount in what the government called “Operation Backfire” and what activists would eventually term "The Green Scare" - referring to the era of oppression that coincided with Operation Backfire. The National Lawyers Guild issued a statement on June 5th, and stated that "the terrorism sentencing enhancement issued to Daniel McGowan (and the others was) an unnecessary and excessive government tactic to discourage the exercise of free speech."

Statement from Friends & Family of Daniel McG | Bombs and Shields Report | Corporate reports | Related from ALPO: Ecosaboteurs in Northwestern US Trip Over Each Other to Snitch | Support Daniel website | Support Daniel McGowan on Myspace | GreenScare.org | Portland Indymedia | Support the Ecoprisoners! website | Some of Indybay's Past Coverage of Operation Backfire Defendants: November 2006 | June 2006 | Lessons from COINTELPRO | January 2006: 11 Indicted