MINK LIBERATOR COULD LAND IN PRISON
Thursday, September 1st, 2005 -- 3:04 PM
A Washington state man accused of freeing thousands of mink around the Midwest has agreed to plead guilty to federal and state charges.U-S Assistant Attorney Bob Anderson in Madison says Peter Young has agreed to a plea deal, also involving state charges in Virginia. Federal prosecutors will recommend a maximum two-year sentence for Young on two counts of animal enterprise terrorism. Investigators believe Young is part of the Animal Liberation Front, a radical group that aims to destroy animal industries it considers inhumane.
Prosecutors believe Young and an accomplice broke onto mink farms in Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin in 1997 and freed about seven-thousand mink. Authorities caught up with Young this past March in San Jose, California.
The owners of Short?s Fur Farm outside of Neillsville believe their farm nearly fell victim to Young back in 1997. A man they believe was Young was spotted trying to gain entrance to their property, but was caught and questioned by a neighbor. That weekend, Young released more than 3,600 mink on three farms in Western Wisconsin.
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