William Viehl has changed his plea to guilty and admitted releasing hundreds of mink from a Utah fur farm as part of an Animal Liberation Front raid. Viehl and his codefendant, Alex Hall, were charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.
He now faces up to 5 years in prison.
Alex Hall is still taking his case to trial. Viehl’s supporters put up a message from him on his MySpace page saying that Viehl has not agreed to cooperate, in any way, with prosecutors. Here is his part of his explanation of his decision:
Utah is a very conservative and religiously controlled state, and cases like mine are almost always guilty until proven innocent. Having a politically and religiously biased jury deciding my fate will not be of my best interest. The change of plea hearing will be on September 2nd, 2009. and will basically consist of me admitting guilt and accepting responsibility. This, however, WILL NOT affect Alex negatively in any way. What ever Alex chooses to do with his case, he will have my love and respect.
Meanwhile, the case of another group of activists charged with “animal enterprise terrorism” is moving forward in California. The “AETA 4”–and Alex Hall, in Utah–need your support as they move forward with their legal defense.