6 August 2003
Sherman Austin was arrested with other protesters at the World Economic Forum in New York in February 2002 on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. While in New York, federal charges were handed down in California. Austin said he took a plea bargain because he feared his case was eligible for a terrorism enhancement, which could have added 20 years to his sentence. The plea deal had called for him to serve four months.
-- CNN, Man jailed for linking to bomb sites, August 5, 2003
Sherman Austin files of first indictment and dismissal:
http://cryptome.org/usa-v-rtf-swa.htmhttp://cryptome.org/usa-v-sma-aca.htm
Sherman Austin files for second indictment:
http://cryptome.org/usa-v-sma-x1a.htm [this file]
What the FBI Doesn't Want You to See at RaisetheFist.com
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/raisethefist/
The free speech contents of Raisethefist.com:
http://cryptome.org/raisethefist.zip
10 September 2002. Sherman Austin has rejected the government's plea offer:
http://www.raisethefist.com
11 August 2002. Thanks to B.
http://cryptome.org/usa-v-rtf-swa.htm
What the FBI Doesn't Want You to See at RaisetheFist.com
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/raisethefist/
The free speech contents of Raisethefist.com:
http://cryptome.org/raisethefist.zip
To all concerned parties:
The U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles (major crime section) has decided to prosecute Sherman Austin for allegedly posting bomb making instructions on his website www.raisethefist.com. The best plea agreement offered him so far is 1 month custody, 5 months halfway house, and 3 years supervised release. Part of the conditions of his probation restict him from using a computer and intereacting with his fellow activists. I am also assuming that if standard procedure is followed, his travel will be confined to the county where he lives.
He is being instructed by his counsel to not speak to the news media. I am trying to convince him otherwise since there are illegal measures being used by the FBI in order to harass Sherman at this time. His AOL Instant Messnger accounts were routinely used by FBI hackers to gain intel on who he is communicating with. In addition Sherman has told me that there are "2 to 3 hackers employed by the FBI who are knocking off my website. I am tracking them now"
His attorney is federal public defender Ron Kay, 321 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles, 90012, xxx-xxx-xxxx.
He is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Rodrigo A. Castro-Silva, major crimes section, 213-894-2262.
He is being asked to plead guilty to title 18 U.S. Code section 842(P)(2)(A), which is the dissemination of bomb making instructions on the internet. Under U.S. guidelines this is a base offense level of 12 with a reduction for acceptance of reponsibility, a level 10 which carries a penalty of 6 to 12 months.
If he takes the case to trial, he faces two to twenty-five years. His attorney has viewed the evidence and informs Sherman that they will easily convict him at trial. Sherman is being pressured to accept the agreement.
I will keep you informed on what happens from here.
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