[Peace] “17 Blackwater Defendants Plead Guilty and were Sentenced, 5 Plead Not Guilty and will go to Trial” Report from Blackwater 22 Court appearance in Galina IL [1 Attachment]

Sat Jun 27 14:08:56 CDT 2009

To: noprivatearmies at yahoogroups.com
From: marysedrop at msn.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:41:49 -0500
Subject: [noprivatearmies] Fw: “17 Blackwater Defendants Plead Guilty and were Sentenced, 5 Plead Not Guilty and will go to Trial” Report from Blackwater 22 Court appearance in Galina IL [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Mary Shesgreen included below] 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Frank Cordaro 
To: National CW E-mail List ; Google Iowa Peace List E-mail 
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 11:36 AM
Subject: “17 Blackwater Defendants Plead Guilty and were Sentenced, 5 Plead Not Guilty and will go to Trial” Report from Blackwater 22 Court appearance in Galina IL

Link to "22 Arrested in action at Blackwater site with Midwest
Resistance Retreat, 2009" reports, videos and photos:
http://www.desmoinescatholicworker.org/blackwaterretreat.html

Link to photo slide show of Blackwater 22 getting arrested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monashaw/sets/72157618344371092/show/

------

June 24, Galena County Courthouse, IL

Report by David Stocker <originsofmusic at gmail.com>

"I am a third-generation farmer from Iowa. What I did on April 27 was
patriotic, and I'm proud of it," defendant Chris Gaunt, 52, from
Grinnell, IA, said in her statement before sentencing.

The 22 defendants in the April 27, 2009, Blackwater trespassing action
were scheduled for hearing at 10 AM. By that time, the pubic gallery
was about halffilled with friends and activists from the peace
movement who had come to witness the next step in the process of
“throwing a shoe” at Blackwater.  On April 25-27, 2009, more than 100
people came to Stockton’s Unitarian Universalist Church to participate
in a two-day conference/retreat on Blackwater/ Xe that included an
address by author Jeremy Scahill and training for the civil
disobedience action, which ended with the arrest of 22 brave souls who
tried to serve moral bankruptcy papers and an eviction notice at the N
IL Blackwater site.  This event, along with actions in Potrero, CA and
Moyock, NC, have dragged Blackwater into the national spotlight where
its actions are receiving greater scrutiny than it would like.

Blackwater/Xe has been persistently developing a training facility on
80 acres at Skunk Hollow Road near Stockton, Illinois.  Without public
invitation, Blackwater appeared as an armed force in the aftermath of
hurricane Katrina. Blackwater has also gained lucrative contracts
worth billions to perform border security in Southwestern USA and is
presently operating in Iraq and Afghanistan under the rebranded title
Xe.

As Rock Falls IL, defendant and peace activist Fred Turk, 71 pointed
out to the court, “This is part of a B/Xe strategy—to be on the ground
floor of corporatization of the national police force.”

The defendants in the Galena action finally entered the courtroom at
11:30 with their attorney Edward L. Osowski, a Chicago-based attorney,
familiar with political trials after working on a number of SOA
trials. After some awkwardness at seating all 22 defendants in the
crowded space available, the "Choice of Plea" appearance began before
Judge Kevin Ward.  All were asked if they were fully aware of the
charges facing them.  All replied that they understood.

The court first dealt with the defendants who wished to plead not
guilty.  Four defendants asked for a bench trial and entered pleas of
not guilty.  They were Roberta, 65, and Don, 67, Thurstin-Timmerman of
Park Falls WI, (former Milwaukee CWers), Lee Jankowski, 50, itinerate
CW home repair person, and Becky Lambert, 25, from the Winona, MN, CW.
 Their trial is scheduled for September 4 and they will be represented
by Edward L. Osowski.

Defendant, Michael Walli, 60, from the Duluth MN, CW, pleaded not
guilty buty requested a trial by jury. Walli wearing a bright orange
T-shirt with the words “Close Guantanamo,” had traveled from
Washington, DC, after appearing in court there pursuant to another
civil disobedience action regarding the closing of Guantanamo. As
previously agreed, Walli told the Judge while he appreciated his
service thus far, he no longer wished to be represented by Edward
Ozowski (Osowski had told the group earlier he would not be available
for a jury trial) and asked for a court-appointed attorney.  Walli
told the judge he is a transient missionary with an income of less
than $500 per year and had no means to hire an attorney. Judge Ward
initiated the process of appointing an attorney for Michael, and his
case was put on hold.

The remaining 17 defendants all pleaded “guilty” to a Class B
Misdemeanor Criminal Trespass charge with a maximum penalty of $1500
and six months in jail, and a minimum penalty of “court supervision.”
In the pre court exchanged between judge , the attorneys and the
defendants, Judge Kevin Ward had let it be known that he was going to
sentence all who pleaded guilty to pay a combined court cost and fine
of $250 with a six-month unsupervised probation, about half of what
the State's Attorney was recommending.

After accepting the guilty pleas of all 17 remaining defendants, each
defendant was allowed to make a statement before sentencing.  Many
took the opportunity to speak out against Blackwater and gave reasons
why they felt called to do civil disobedience.

New Hope Farm CW defendant, Mary Moody, 44, described coming to the
courthouse in February to meet with officials of the county and advise
them of plans for the impending action.  “We shared information and
acted with complete transparency. We followed our agreements. This is
in stark contrast to Blackwater, a private corporation which
trespasses in foreign nations, enters private homes and is alleged to
have taken lives of innocent people. Blackwater violates its own
contracts smuggling illegal weapons into and out of Iraq.  My plea is
to all courts and to all citizens that the same transparency be
demanded of these corporate criminals as is being demanded of us who
stand before you today.”

Mona Shaw, 58, of the Des Moines CW said, “As I stand here, my heart
is filled with regret.  Regret for every mother who holds a folded
flag, regret for mothers who bury children for lack of healthcare or
proper nutrition. I regret that we live in a moral climate where our
leaders no longer work for us but rather serve Corporations.  We
believe that the people have a heart and soul and that the day is
coming when truth rather than lies will prevail. However, what I don’t
regret is what I did last April 27 at the N IL Blackwater site”

Defendant, Laurel Noblette, 22, of the Champaign IL CW described her
motivation, “This action was a personal choice to intervene in the
only non-violent way offered to me. We are community organizers, and
we represent people without a voice. I accept the penalty in exchange
for the opportunity to have you hear me say that Blackwater should be
stopped.

Along with speaking out against Blackwater, and knowing that the Judge
was inclined to fix a $250 sentence instead of any jail time, many of
the defendants stated that as being members of Catholic Worker
communities, living and serving the poor as volunteers, asked the
Judge for leniency in any fines or penalties.

Two defendants; Frank Cordaro, 58, and Ed Boomer, 62, both Des Moines
CWers, told the judge that they would refuse to pay any fines or court
costs as a sign of solidarity with the poor.  Cordaro told Judge Ward,
“As a sign of standing with the poor we serve, who when in similar
situations end up going to jail, more often than not, for lack of
money to pay their finds and court cost, I will refuse to pay any
fines or court costs that may come with my sentence today.”

At the end of defendants' statements Judge Ward sentenced 15 of the
defendants, excluding Cordaro and Bloomer to pay court costs of $150
plus a punitive charge of $100. The judge told the defendants that the
total fine of $250 must be paid on or before September 4, 2009, for
the defendants to avoid further consequence. He also gave them six
months unsupervised probation.

Turning his attention to Cordaro and Bloomer, the judge made note that
he heard their stated refusal to pay any fines or court costs and
subsequently warned them of unfavorable consequences should they fail
to pay any of the penalties of their sentence. Then Judge Ward
sentenced Cordaro and Bloomer to the same sentence he gave to the
other 15 defendants.

The sentence given by Judge Ward, while seeming lenient, was still
more than the minimum required by law. And, defendants were not
permitted to perform community service in lieu of fine as some had
requested.

-------------------------------------------------

Below list of the 17 defendants who plead guilty and sentenced to pay
court costs of $150 plus a fine of $100 and were gave six month
unsupervised probation.

Eric Anglada, LaMotte, IA, 29 yrs old - New Hope CW Farm
Ed Bloomer, Des Moines CW, 61 yrs old
Kenny Bishop, Champaign CW, 24 yrs old
Frank Cordaro, Des Moines CW, 58 yrs old
Tyler Chen, Champaign CW, 24 yrs old
Elton Davis, Des Moines IA, 47 yrs old - former DMCW
Chris Gaunt, Grinnell, IA, 52 yrs old
Carolyn Griffeth, St Louis CW, 36 yrs old
Lee Jankowski, Dubuque, IA CW, 50 yrs old
Benjamin Johnson, Dubuque CW, 25 yrs old
Chrissy Kirchhoefer, St Louis CW, 31 yrs old
Mike Leutgeb Munson, Rockford MN, 26 yrs old - former Winona CW
Mary Moody, LaMotte, IA, 44 yrs old - New Hope CW Farm
Laurel Nobilette, Champaign CW, 22 yrs old
Nick Pickrell, Kansas City CW, 27 yrs old
Mona Shaw, Des Moines CW, 57 yrs old
Chris Watson, Champaign CW, 22 yrs old
Fred Turk, Rock Falls, IL, 71 yrs old

--------------------------------------------------

List of the 3 defendants who plead not guilty and were given a bench
trial date of Sept 4th.
Becky Lambert, Winona CW, 25 yrs old
Don Thurstin-Timmerman, Park Falls WI, 67 yrs old - former Milwaukee CW
Roberta Thurstin-Timmerman, Park Falls WI, 65 yrs old - former Milwaukee CW

---------------------------------------------------

Michael Walli, Duluth CW, 60 yrs old plead not guilty and asked for a
jury trial and a public defendant attonrey. Future court dates to be
determined.

-----------------------------------------------------

For more info contact:

Frank Cordaro <frank.cordaro at gmail.com>
Phil Berrigan CW House
713 Indiana Avenue, Des Moines, IA  50314
(515) 282-4781   www.DesMoinesCatholicWorker.org

-------------------------

Jeremy Scahill interview on Bill Moyers Journal, June 5, 2009
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06052009/profile.html

Six minute youtube video of Jeremy Scahill's address the Stop
Blackwater Conference and CW Resistance Retreat  - "a call to direct
action"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk7lYqhyB8o&feature=channel_page

__._,_.___
Attachment(s) from Mary Shesgreen 
1 of 1 Photo(s) 

09 06 24 Blackwater 22 at Court House.jpg
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