Woman gets 21 years for burning down building at Michigan State University

An environmental activist charged in the Dec. 31, 1999, firebombing ofMichigan State University’s Agriculture Hall has been sentenced to serve 21 years in prison. Marie Jeanette Mason, 47, of Cincinnati, also was ordered to pay restitution to MSU totaling more than $1 million and, once released from prison, will have to remain under supervision for the rest of her life. Mason was one of four people indicted in connection with the New Year’s Eve attack. Frank Brian Ambrose, 34, of Detroit, pleaded guilty to arson conspiracy last year and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Aren Bernard Burthwick and Stephanie Lynne Fultz, both 28 and of Detroit, are awaiting trial. After an investigation of more than eight years, the indictments were announced last year. The attack on the northeast corner of Agriculture Hall in East Lansing reduced the office of the Agriculture Biotechnology Support Project to little more than cinders and melted computers. The fire did some $1 million worth of damage. No one was injured. To read a university news release, click here.

FROM MARCH 2008: Four people have been charged with setting a fire in 1999 in an agricultural research building at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The fire caused $1.1 million in damage and destroyed records of a genetic engineering project to boost crops in developing countries. Authorities say those charged were trying to make a statement on behalf of the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front. (Detroit News)