Kevin Olliff Released From Prison After 18 Months

From Voice of the Voiceless

After over a year and a half in prison on stalking charges, yesterday Kevin Olliff was released.

Kevin was charged with "stalking" for his role in the POM Wonderful and UCLA campaigns in Los Angeles. Tuesday a judge sentenced him to three years in prison. In California's prison system, prisoners serve about half their sentence. The three-year sentence translated to his immediate release.

Very little news on Kevin's case was publicized during his incarceration. With the lack of updates made public, the case of Kevin Olliff was sadly under-publicized and under-noticed by the animal rights movement, despite its serious implications (Kevin was convicted merely of participating in home demonstrations). Most of the news on Kevin Olliff was dominated by exaggerated and inaccurate news reports, claiming Kevin was a "member of the Animal Liberation Front".

Kevin was never accused of any direct A.L.F. activity. The state did allege he was part of a criminal street gang, and that the Animal Liberation Front met his standard. This assertion was based on a misunderstanding of what the ALF is — in other words, the state said that by participating in home demos where some of the chants conveyed messages of support for the ALF, that Kevin was therefore a part of the ALF. At no point were there any allegations by the prosecution that Kevin did anything beyond the demonstrations; no allegations of liberations, break ins, or property destruction.

Kevin has five years of probation ahead of him, but he is out of prison. Welcome home.