Former Caltech grad student with Asperger's will serve 18 more months in prison for conspiracy in firebombing case

From the Pasadena Star News in California:

LOS ANGELES - A former Caltech graduate student convicted of conspiracy for participating in a vandalism and firebombing spree that destroyed more than 130 vehicles in 2003 will serve at least 18 more months in prison after he was re-sentenced by a federal judge Monday.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned convictions on seven counts of arson against William "Billy" Cottrell (pictured) in September, ruling that Judge R. Gary Klausner, who presided over Cottrell's 2004 trial, improperly excluded evidence of Cottrell's Asperger's syndrome.

Klausner could have released Cottrell on Monday, based on the amount of prison time he has already served. Instead, he re-imposed the same 100-month prison sentence Cottrell has already been serving.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Cottrell must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, meaning he could be eligible for release in about 18 months. He is being credited with the 67 months he's already served.

His attorneys argued Monday that Cottrell's genius-level scientific talents were being wasted in prison.

But the judge was unmoved.

"He may be one of the best minds in physics," Klausner said. "(But) the fact that people are given talents ... doesn't excuse them from abiding by the same laws that we all have to," Klausner said.

Cottrell briefly addressed the court before the sentencing. He said he had no intention of hurting anyone when he and two other people vandalized dozens of vehicles at several San Gabriel Valley car dealerships.

"I would just like to go back to physics, if that's possible," Cottrell said.

On Aug. 22, 2003, he and two other people spray-painted phrases like "polluter," "gas guzzler," "SUV = Terrorism," and "ELF," an acronym for the militant environmental group Earth Liberation Front, onto vehicles at dealers in Duarte, West Covina and Monrovia.

Cottrell's attorneys had argued that Cottrell only spray-painted the vehicles and did not participate in any of the firebombings. They say he was duped into participating in the attack by two other people involved, Tyler Johnson and Michie Oe, who remain at large.

"They're still fugitives," said Thom Mrozak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, who would not comment on their whereabouts. "We have some information, but I'm not willing to disclose any of it at this time...We're certainly hoping to bring them to justice at some point."

One of Cottrell's attorneys, Michael Mayock, said his client's Asperger's syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that includes social dysfunction coupled with above-average intelligence, prevented him from understanding that he was being misled by Johnson and Oe.

Mayock said Cottrell did not participate in the firebombings and attempted to stop Oe and Johnson when he realized what they were doing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherilyn Garnett briefly addressed Klausner on Monday and asked that he give Cottrell the same 100-month sentence. Garnett said Cottrell's actions were "definitely designed to influence a civilian population" by discouraging people from buying SUVs.

Klausner agreed, noting that the attacks came during "a time in history when this was really scary to the public...this concept of terrorism."

Before the judge's ruling Monday, Mayock told Klausner Cottrell has been teaching language and science classes to prisoners while incarcerated. He also called attention to a letter signed by renowned physicists, including Stephen Hawking, deploring the treatment of Cottrell in prison.

Labelled as an "eco-terrorist," Cottrell has been harassed by prison guards and placed in cells with dangerous inmates, Mayock said.

Marvin Rudnick, another of Cottrell's attorneys, said his client had been hopeful that he would be released Monday.

"He saw a light at the end of the tunnel and now it's flickered out," Rudnick said.